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Finding your voice
How informal do we go?
In agreeing a suitable style of web writing, you need to
decide which features of informal spoken English are acceptable.
These should be built into a web style guide. For example:
- Personal pronouns ('I' / 'we', 'you') that give a one-to-one
feel.
- Contractions ('We're' rather than 'We are').
- Colloquialisms such as 'we're off to a great start', 'what
the heck', 'nicked'.
- Fillers such as 'Well', 'I mean', 'You see'.
- Orthodox grammar-rule breaking such as starting sentences
with 'and', 'but' or 'because' (taboo to many) and even
split infinitives.
- Conventional spelling-rule breaking, such as 'dunno',
'stinkin'', 'marvel-ous'.
Just as important are:
- Ordinary vocabulary that you know your audiences use themselves
and are therefore likely to be comfortable with.
- Shorter forms that appear more natural and less pompous,
such as 'so' instead of 'therefore'.
- Sentence structure which has a spoken feel. For example,
we're more likely to speak using active rather than passive
verbs and concrete rather than abstract expressions.
- Flexibility with sentence length. Varying the length of
sentences can provide a more natural spoken rhythm and pace
that reflects the writer's emotions.
- Emphasis. In speaking we use voice stress and intonation
to emphasise words. On the web it's best to change our sentence
constructions, usually putting what we want to emphasise
at the start of a paragraph, sentence or phrase.
Lively words that convey human voice, action and feel -
such as 'jump', 'walk', 'leapt to his feet', 'sing', 'felt
embarrassed', 'smile', etc. (Nick Usborne).
Next: Examples of contrasting
styles
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