Style Manual

3.3.1 Rules of Spelling and the Treatment of Specific Words

1. Spelling
   
   1. UK or US?
      
2. Noun Style Guide
   
   1. Pronouns
      
      1. Gender
         

         I hate that there needs to be this section but there does.

   2. Proper Noun Style Guide
      
      1. Specific Proper Noun Style Guide
         

         This section contains how to write specific proper nouns. It is simply a list of proper nouns that Gill and Sennhauser has found itself writing several times, so wanted to establish a precise styling for.

         Noun	Notes
         Gill and Sennhauser	no ampersand
         Org-mode	not "Mode"
         emsenn	not captialised

   3. Collective Noun Style Guide
      

      singular noun	formal collective noun(s)	comedic collective noun(s)
      congressperson	members of congress	a swamp
      yak	cabinet, herd	tangle, gridlock
      lawyer	huddle, group	tangle

3. Verb Style Guide
   
   1. Verb Specifications
      
      1. "To," not "in order to," or "as a way to,"
         
      2. "Also," not "in addition"
         
      3. remove, not extract, eliminate, take away
         

         I mean, unless those are what make more sense.

      4. use
         

         Normally, you should use "use" in your sentences, unless you're speaking of something that is being used in an unusual way, then you can say utilize. But you should probably still say use.

      5. method or methodology
         

         Usually method, unless it's not.

4. Contraction Style Guide
   

   For my personal tone, I should:

   • Use common contractions:
     • it's
     • you're
     • that's
     • don't

   In all writing, I should:

   • Never mix contractions and their full form in the same piece. This is bad: If you don't secure the hatch, you cannot proceed with decompression.
   • Never form contractions from a noun and verb. This is bad: the client's almost here.

   Use common contractions, such as it’s, you’re, that's, and don’t, to create a friendly, informal tone.

   Don't mix contractions and their spelled-out equivalents in UI text. For example, don’t use can’t and cannot in the same UI.

   Never form a contraction from a noun and a verb, such as emsenn’s developing a lot of new cloud services.

   Avoid ambiguous contractions, such as there’d, it’ll, and they’ll.

5. Adverb Style Guide
   
   1. Forbidden Adverbs
      

      Obviously not forbidden, but, avoid them.

      Adverb	Suggested alternative
      clearly	Drop it. If the sentence feels barren without it, maybe it's not that clear and you should rephrase.
      completely	Whatever it did, it did it. You only need to specify if it was incomplete.
      exceedingly
      excellent
      extremely
      fairly
      few
      huge
      interestingly	Leave it to your reader to decide if they're interested
      largely
      literally
      many
      mostly
      quite
      relatively
      remarkably
      several
      signficantly
      substantially
      surprisingly
      tiny
      various
      vast
      very

      Avoid vague adverbs:

      • clearly
      • completely
      • exceedingly
      • excellent
      • extremely
      • fairly
      • few
      • huge
      • interestingly
      • largely
      • literally
      • many
      • mostly
      • quite
      • relatively
      • remarkably
      • several
      • significantly
      • substantially
      • surprisingly
      • tiny
      • various
      • vast
      • very
6. Adjective Style Guide
   
   1. Order of Adjectives
      
      1. List of the Order of Adjectives
         

         Adjectives should occur be written in the following order:

         1. Quantity: many, seventeen, a few
         2. Opinion: interesting, good, gorgeous
         3. Size: big, narrow, tall
         4. Quality: broken, uncut, smooth
         5. Shape: square, rotund, triangular
         6. Age: 12-year-old, young, elderly
         7. Color: cerulean, green, pink
         8. Origin: English, Roman, Argentinian
         9. Material: Wood, aluminium, concrete
         10. Type: U-shaped, professional, engineer's
         11. Purpose: cleaning, camping, baking
      2. Superseding Rules to the Order of Adjectives
         
         • If you've got something that might be a reduplicative (hocus-pocus, mama), it might be worth changing the order to give the noun phrase a better meter. The chief example of this is the big bad wolf.
         • Modifiers to an adjective should directly precede them in the phrase. This is most important for inserting a negation - that is, making sure to write, "there were several not calm individuals gathered at the gates." /(Note "not calm" would more properly be "excited," or a more appropriate positive adjective, but "not calm" is more suited for the piece. This demonstrates that even when you violate some rules to achieve the proper voice and tone, you don't suddenly throw out the others.)
      3. Examples from Literature
         
         • "It was cold, bleak, biting weather," in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
         • "He's an extraordinary looking man," in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
         • "And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor," in The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
      4. Examples from Our Portfolio
         

         Coming soon - just as soon as we have a portfolio!

   2. Adjective Specifications
      
      1. Apologise Adjective Specification
         

         Adjective	Meaning
         formal	An apology given with the relevant authority of the apologizer.
         sincere	An apology issued from the individual person who is the apologizer.
         courteous	An apology issued as a social habit.

   3. Describing a Person
      
      1. Describing a part of their identity.
         

         Identity	Phrasing
         Member of a racially marginalized ethnicity	person of color

7. Special Words Style Guide
   
   1. Reduplicatives
      

      Reduplicatives are words like mama, mish-mash, or bang-bang…

3.3.2 Rules of Writing Titles, Names, and Proper Terms

3.3.3 Rules of Writing Numbers and Mathematics

3.3.4 Rules of Abbreviations and Jargon

3.3.5 Rules of Quotations and Dialog

3.3.6 Rules of Phrases and Sentence Construction

1. Phrasing Style Guide
   
   1. Avoidable Cliches
      
      • not rocket science
      • isn't rocket science
      • outside the box

3.3.7 Rules of Colors and Sensory Descriptions

3.4.1 Centuries

3.5.1 Structuring a Sentence

3.5.2 Structuring a List

3.5.3 Structuring a Paragraph

3.5.4 Structuring a Piece

1. Sections, chapters, parts? How to use what?
   

3.5.5 Guidelines for Determining Structure

3.6.1 Adjectives

1. Authentic
   
2. Colloquial
   
3. Emotional
   
4. Formal
   
5. Natural
   
6. Sophisticated
   

3.7.1 Fiction Writing

1. Mysteries
   
   • Always give a clue to a reader three ways, and always give the reader three clues.

3.7.2 Marketing Writing

1. High-End Hotel Description Writing
   

   The standard tone is sophisticated, natural, and authentic.

2. Online Landing Page For Service
   
   1. Structure
      
      • Headline
      • Proposition
      • Exchanged utility
      • Explanation of Fulfillment
      • Social Proof
      • Closing Argument
      • CTA
3. Sales Letter
   

3.7.3 Technical Writing

1. Guide for Writing Instructions
   
2. Guide for Writing Training Procedures
   
   • Procedures should be written to the trainee: you're encouraged to use second-person voicing to give direct instructions.
3. Literate Programming
   

3.8.1 Formatting

1. PDF
   
2. HTML
   
3. Formatting by Content Type
   

3.8.2 Licensing ::

3.9.1 About this Section

3.9.2 Writing Flow Training

1. Prerequisites
   

   This training assumes you have completed the following trainings

2. Instructions
   

   This section (is in early development and) contains the individual lessons for this training.

   1. Writing Flow, Lesson One: The Assignment
      

      This lesson (is in early development and) will teach you about assignments, the unit of work for the writing necessary to accomplish an objective. Some examples of assignments are:

      • a bundle of pieces for a client.
      • a single piece written as a bid for client.
      • a series of emails for an internal marketing campaign.
      1. Assignment Properties
         

         Assignment properties are standardized pieces of information about an assignment. Assignment properties include things like the piece's length requirements and its tone. Assignment properties are located in three places, and are inherited on-top of each other in this order:

         • First, the assignment should have whatever properties are in the Assignment Template.
         • Second, the assignment should have whatever properties are recommended by the appropriate style guide.
         • Finally, the assignment may include its own properties.

         Here's an example of what an assignment's properties might look like:

         :PROPERTIES:
         :minimum-length: 700
         :recommended-length: 900
         :max-length: 1000
         :tone: sophisticated terse
         :END:
         

3.9.3 Assignment Research Training

3.9.4 High-End Hotel Description Writing Training

1. Prerequisites
   

   This training assumes you have completed the following trainings: -Writing Flow Training

2. Instructions
   
   1. High-End Hotel Description Writing, Lesson One: Interpretting the Assignment
      

      This lesson (is in early development and) will teach you how to interpret an assignment.

      Assignments are kept in the Writing Assignments lesson's assignment is specifically. You may notice the assignment is brief: most assignments will include relatively few guidelines, and will rely on your training and descretion as a writer.

   2. High-End Hotel Description Writing, Lesson Two: Tone and Style
      

      The tone for this piece should be sophisticated while remaining natural and authentic. (Remember to check the section for guidance on these terms.)

      The reader should be addressed in second-person plural, to connect them to the hotel and "travel" through the article. While it's appropriate to emphasize the luxury of a 5-star hotel, do not over-sell a 3-star hotel.

      The following should be applied over your assignment specification:

      :PROPERTIES:
      :tone: sophisticated natural authentic :perspective: third
      :address: second-person plural
      :END:
      

   3. High-End Hotel Description Writing, Lesson Three: Structure
      

      Expert opinion (15 words exactly), in the form of a quote, given in the hotel brief. E.g. Tom Gill, London: “A contemporary hotel which provides tranquillity right in the heart of London's historical city centre.”

      We love (80 words) in a list form

      This highlights why the expert has chosen this offer, explaining what they loved about the hotel and the destination. There should be 4 or 5 ‘We Love’ points which are communicated in the hotel brief.

      Don’t hesitate to add personal touches to the points, e.g. complimentary breakfasts: give examples of what you can eat, where you can eat it.

   4. High-End Hotel Description Writing, Advanced Lesson: Tom's Musings
      

      Think of some USPs (unique selling points) that help the hotel stand out. Maybe it's close to the beach or has a spa facility, the most important thing is drawing in the reader immediately. Don’t forget to mention the location of the establishment, the number of stars, the surrounding areas and the style/architecture of the place.

      Example: “In Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where the Mediterranean Sea and the Rhône Delta meet, one can experience traditional atmosphere and spectacular surroundings. The 5-star hotel, Les Arnelles, is a charming building defined by a harmonious relationship with the great outdoors, both inside and out. Its balance of contemporary and natural aesthetics firmly roots the hotel as the standout place to stay.”

   5. High-End Hotel Description Writing, Advanced Lesson: Room Descriptions
      

      For each room, write a title with the name of the room included and the size in brackets. Don’t hesitate to reiterate the type of person who could benefit from this room (family, couple). Describe the benefits of the room: the decoration, the surrounding area, etc.

      Mention facilities (complimentary or optional), size, view, style, who can stay (no. of adults/children, babies allowed or not).

      Example: Beach Front Villas (95 m²): “Situated directly on the beach, these villas are ideal for a trip with the whole family; up to two adults and two children can comfortably stay here. You also have direct access to the beach and swimming pool; putting paradise outside your hotel door."

3.9.5 Writing Training

1. Creative Writing Training
   
   1. Writing Prompts
      
      1. Writing Prompt: Force a Villian on a Vacation
         

         You have the opportunity to take someone you dislike - fictional or real - and send then anyplace you choose - real, on earth. You have now intercepted a post card from this person sent back to their associates. What does it say?

      2. Writing Prompt: You're a Disgruntled Baby
         

         Continue this sentence: "I know I'm only 20 months old, but I don't think it's right that my parents…"

      3. Writing Prompt: You've Won!
         

         Continue this sentence: "When I received the letter, I almost threw it away. It looked like a scam. When I opened it, it definitely looked like a scam. No one just gives this sort of thing away. But here I am, watching the delivery crew drop off a brand new…"

      4. Writing Prompt: Give Them a Condiment
         
         • [ ] Think of three fictional characters and write them down:
         • In that order, describe each - in a complimentary manner - by comparing them to the following condiment:
           • Ketchup
           • Mayonnaise
           • Peanut Sauce
2. Training exercises
   
   1. Word Substitution and Sentence Reconstruction Training Exercises
      
      1. Word Substitution and Sentence Reconstruction Exercise: Write Around Character Replacements
         
         • [ ] Go to Wikipedia and find a random article.
         • [ ] Write 150 words about the topic. Choose your own writing type and tone.
         • [ ] In your piece, use the table below to replace characters. For each row in the column, go to whatever character position is suggested, and replace it with the suggested character. Rewrite the text to make sense around the character, replacing words or sentences as needed, while keeping the document truthful to the Wikipedia article on which it is based - and keeping the characters in the right position!

         POSITION	CHARACTER
         12	e
         88	p
         156	i
         287	o

      2. Word Substitution and Sentence Reconstruction Exercise: Konami Code
         

         Like "Write Around Character Replacements", but with the Konami Code.

   2. Comparative Writing Training Exercises
      
      1. Comparative Writing Exercise: Neither Slinky nor Scarf
         

         Describe a snake by writing the ways in which it is unlike a slinky and scarf, but you may not directly mention the snake, slinkies, or scarves.