The power of great language resources and consistent style…
Posted by Nancy on June 1, 2007
Just some quick thoughts about the balancing act between expressing your voice in your business (and even personal) communications yet still needing to recognize that there are grammar, punctuation, and style rules to follow AND that they’re worth following! While many people seem to feel that following rules smacks of grade school and may even inhibit their style, the fact of the matter is that people DO notice errors and inconsistencies, even if just on a visceral level. I’ve listed some of my favorite print resources on the www.connotation.biz Website, with the awesome Gregg Reference Manual 10th Edition being the “must have,” go-to resource… Then, ensure that you have a style guide that will keep you consistent, even in your quasicasual correspondence, be it an e-mail or blog entry. This is where you’ll keep track of whether you’re using series commas before and and or in a series (still the recommended option for a number of reasons though there was a dalliance for a time with not using them), how you handle your headlines and titles in ad copy and other documents (capping ALL words in titles that are 4+ letters is the recommended rather than using the 5+ alternative as this lets you cap “with” and “from” and similar words that would normally be LC based on the part of speech. Looks better and flows better! This nitty-gritty stuff may seem unimportant to some, but it actually helps ensure a more-positive impression and helps streamline things even when working on a deadline. I definitely feel that in ad copy and other circumstances there are some times when certain rules can be relaxed, but others done for the sake of “design” actually look like mistakes, such as leaving out an apostrophe in the name of a business that is clearly supposed to be possessive, such as Richards Bistro instead of Richard’s… please don’t let your designer convince you that it looks better without… it just looks wrong. Sorry! We’re really here to help you look your best, and mistakes or wondering if something is a mistake resonates with a surprisingly large number of your readers and prospects–more than you think! : – ) Ciao for now!
Peggy Jordan said
Excellent point about not breaking the rules to make the design look better. I totally agree that leaving out apostrophes (as in your “Richard’s Bistro” example) looks like an error or an oversight to the public and to potential customers. Especially in the case of headlines and signage–a bigger font magnifies the size of the perceived mistake.
Jane Francis said
Regarding the final comma in a series…
You state that “there was a dalliance for a time with not using them”. I like to adhere to rules, but I don’t want to appear stuffy and inflexible. In my o-l-d Gregg Reference Manual Fifth Edition (1977), it calls for the comma. How comforting. That is what I grew up with. In The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage (1999), it says to drop that comma. I could probably consult other references and find the same standoff.
Would you agree that a writer has to be flexible and adapt to the standards of the company she’s writing for? This question is undoubtedly one that has been hashed over a thousand times in the writing industry. If you can direct me to other articles or references, I would appreciate it.
Earlier I could have said “the company for which she is writing.” That sounds stiff, though, and I could get used to allowing a preposition at the end of a sentence if the writing sounds conversational and natural.
To Jane Francis Thanks so much for your comment. I agree with you that we absolutely need to stay flexible with not only what our clients may wish to choose to do for their style or voice but also give ourselves as writers and editors the option to flex the rules ourselves when it just doesn’t sounds right. You happened to have mentioned a situation I, too, have dealt with regarding having the preposition at the end of the sentence… and I’ve done it when it just happened to sound right to me. It’s all evolving, but part of our jobs is to ensure that someone seeking to “break” a rule knows they are so that they are actually making an informed choice. Creative and advertising copy in particular follows different, often more-relaxed guidelines for sure! Thanks for the comment. There are lots of great online resources for these things, including the very economical new online version of The Gregg Reference Manual Tenth Edition, the current “bible” for easy research into current style. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073545430/information_center_view0/
Jane Francis said
Thanks, Nancy. I agree wholeheartedly. Thanks for taking time to comment.