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Yahoo Style Guide – Interview and Initial Review

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:08:32 +0000

You’ve probably seen all the publicity about the new Yahoo! Style Guide – a guide that, according to the publishers, is ‘the first of its kind to address questions about online writing’. I got the chance to look at a review copy and it certainly covers a lot of ground in six sections and about 500 pages:

Write for an online audience (4 chapters)
Speak to your entire audience (2 chapters)
Write UI text, email and mobile friendly content (3 chapters)
Manage the mechanics (3 chapters)
Clean up your copy (3 chapters)
Resources (4 chapters)

I got the chance to do a short interview with Senior Editorial Director, Chris Barr, about the Yahoo! Style Guide:

Chris, why have you decided to bring this book out now?

Because there was a glaring need for this book. While excellent style guides exist for print publications, none addresses writing for the Internet exclusively, or even in depth. Two popular sellers are The Chicago Manual of Style, and The Associated Press Stylebook, each with millions in print. Neither offers much guidance for writing and publishing for the Web.

This guide started out as an internal reference on how to write “Yahoo!” and was used by Yahoo! Web content developers to attract and build audiences. Little by little the guide grew as Yahoo! ventured into new areas, and was asked for by writers, marketers, editors, programmers, community managers, and product managers. Today it provides guidance for all writers in the company network, whether they’re bloggers, video producers, reporters, newsletter copywriters, or documentation specialists.

We’re happy to share these best practices with the world because everybody benefits when content is concise and easy to read.

This book seems to cover areas that go beyond style – what’s the rationale for that?

We felt it was important to address topics like how to write for an online audience, how to develop your voice, how to write online headlines, how to incorporate SEO into Web copy, and on and on, because nobody else had. The Yahoo! Style Guide also provides lots of Internet-specific information like why you should avoid italics. Other guides tend to be a bit behind the curve when it comes to styling Internet words. For example, we’ve been using ‘website” for years, and AP just closed up “Web site” in April 2010. And they still use “e-mail” while we use “email.” Also, our usage examples are far more entertaining!

Yahoo! Style Guide will not only address overall principles of good writing and editing, but also Web-specific subjects such as:

How to write for online reading
How to choose the right words to bring more people to your site with search engine optimization
Best practices for corporate and personal blogging
How to write effective email and newsletters
Internet law: trademarks, copyright, and defamation
Headlines for online content
Writing and editing English for an international audience

And the Yahoo! Style Guide has exercises where people can test their Web-writing skills.

What’s your vision for this guide?

We feel this guide is essential for anyone writing for English-speaking audiences, including businesses that are creating or improving their websites. While it may appear that businesses have embraced the Internet, Jupiter Research found that just 36 percent of all businesses with fewer than 100 employees had a Web presence (New York Times, Feb, 14, 2008,) Even businesses that already have websites need help optimizing their content for the Web and learning how to create more compelling copy, clearer email, and attention-grabbing, community-engaging blogs.

Journalists, personal and corporate bloggers, writers, technical writer, editors: Anyone who creates or edits content for websites needs to understand the unique requirements of Internet content. From paragraph length, formats, and headlines, Web content is different from what most people have been taught. All writers need to be aware of the burgeoning legal issues of online copyright, including fair use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to the issues surrounding user-generated content, third-party content, as well as libel and slander.

Schools, colleges, universities, journalism schools: Students world-wide can learn the best practices for Web content, which is different from traditional writing styles.

Marketing organizations, advertising and PR agencies: Every outfit that writes marketing copy, email solicitations, Web advertisements, business communications, newsletters, customer or employee communications documents require education for using this new media.

Newspapers: Especially those that are augmenting paper distribution with digital distribution. Reporters in newsrooms are being asked to do more to attract online readers. This story from the Washington Post explains the dilemma:

“Now they must also operate in an online environment where ‘search-engine optimization’ is a key goal. That requires new skills and time-consuming additional duties. Separate online headlines must be written in a way that attracts attention on the Web. Links must be found, vetted and inserted into online stories, and so-called “keywords” must be highlighted. All of this is designed to make it easier to find Post content on the Internet and more likely for the Post to win the intense media competition to show up at the top of results lists when readers use search engines such as Google and Yahoo.”

Global English speakers: The Guide will appeal to universal English speakers, including non-native English speakers by stressing clarity and simplicity. It will point out differences between, say, American English and that used in England.

Creators of content for mobile devices: The mobile Web is one of the fastest growing areas of the Internet, especially internationally, yet there are no usage guides available. The Guide will address best practices for developing mobile content.

Web developers, designers, information architects: Many of the pages within a website contain valuable information written to help users. FAQs, help pages, error messages, and user-interface text must be written clearly can concisely. Moreover, user-generated content, and community aspects such as comments will be addressed.

Thanks, Chris. My initial look suggests that this is a useful reference book, and the exercises will help readers to really get to grips with the material it contains. I plan to hang on to my copy and check it out in more detail. There’s also a great site where you can get quick help on many common issues. If you want to buy the book, here’s the link for the Yahoo Style Guide.

Yahoo Style Guide – Interview and Initial Review was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Review: The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking Like a Professional.

Sharon Hurley Hall — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:56:50 +0000

I was intrigued when I first heard the title The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking Like a Professional. Written by marketing communication consultant and business writing tutor Philip Yaffe, the 288-page book is based on a course on the fundamentals of good writing and speaking given to students who don’t speak English as a first language. Don’t let the 288 pages stop you from reading it. The Gettysburg Approach is an easy read, divided into three main sections.

Fundamentals Of Good Writing (55 pages)
Oral Presentations: Giving Voice To Your Words (43 pages)
Appendices

The reason for the title is that Yaffe says that Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address demonstrates all the principles of clear writing that are described in the book. If you’re interested, he shows you how in one of the appendices.

Writing Fundamentals

However, I was more interested in the writing advice. Some of the sections that stood out for me in the writing section included:

the essentials of a good argument
the difference between expository and creative writing, and creating the right mindset for each
the purpose of expository writing
how to make writing clear and concise (Yaffe gives formulas you can use to remember the principles he outlines)
building your text, sentence by sentence
using the inverted pyramid (which happens to be one of my favorite tools to explain article structure)

There are exercises and examples to illustrate each point, as well as an extremely useful summary table on expository writing.

The best quote in this section is:

So what distinguishes professional writers from non‐professional ones? You may be tempted to say “natural talent.” This no doubt plays a role, but only a minor one. The real difference is in how professionals go about their work — their attitudes, methods, practices and procedures.

Advice on Speaking

In the section on better speaking, some of the principles in the first section are repeated to show how these relate to speaking. Yaffe highlights some important differences between written and spoken language and has some interesting tips on using body language to enhance the effectiveness of public speaking and on designing slides.

Finally, the appendices give exercises, analysis and revision of the principles involved. This is a meaty section, but you can pick the areas that interest you most and just work on those.

What I Thought

I enjoyed the book, which was written clearly, with particular interest in the section on writing. Most people could improve their writing using the tips here and it’s written so that anyone can understand and apply the tips.

I leave you with Yaffe’s Law about good writing:

If you give people what they want first, they are likely to accept anything else you want them to have. If you give them what you want first, chances are they won’t accept anything at all.

The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking Like a Professional is available on Amazon.

Review: The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking Like a Professional. was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Review: 100 Writing Mistakes To Avoid

Sharon Hurley Hall — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:00:44 +0000

100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid is the first book to come out of Daily Writing Tips, owned by Daniel Scocco, of Daily Blog Tips fame. Authored by Maeve Maddox, chief editor on the DWT site, the 45 page ebook offers ‘a practical guide to 100 common mistakes of spelling, usage, grammar and punctuation’. Since I’m a bit hung up on these things (and used to write for DWT once upon a time), I could hardly wait to dive in.

A Time Saver For Writers

The short introduction lays out the purpose of the book – to save writers time by giving them a quick way to identify and avoid common errors in written English. I was pleased to see that the book included information on British and American usage, where this differed, as well as points of contention, all of which are indicated with asterisks. Be warned, this is not the place to go to learn grammar – it’s intended for those who are familiar with common grammatical terms.

What’s Inside

100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid is divided into four sections: spelling mistakes, usage mistakes, grammar mistakes and punctuation mistakes. The layout is simple and clear. There’s a number followed by the words and expressions being discussed (in red), examples of incorrect and correct usage, followed by a couple of sentences giving meanings or explanations.

This book is for you if you’ve ever wondered:

what the rule is on article use before an acronym
which verb form to use with ‘either’
whether you can end a sentence with a preposition
where to put commas (there are several points on that in the final section).

There’s just one thing that would make 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid even more useful: a clickable index of all the points, so I could easily go straight to the one I want to research.

How I Will Use It

Truth to tell, I don’t have many problems with the issues raised here, but there’s always that moment when you have a moment of self-doubt. This book will make it easier to identify and avoid mistakes which might make our clients think less of us. As a British writer who often writes for an American audience, it’s useful to have guidance on a few stylistic points that may feel wrong to me but may be right for my readers.

100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid is available from Daily Writing Tips at $19.99.

Review: 100 Writing Mistakes To Avoid was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Write Right Online – A Review

Sharon Hurley Hall — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:22:37 +0000

I’m always interested in reading books about writing, so I was pleased when Andy Hayes asked me to review Write Right Online. Andy’s a travel writer and the 30 page book shares what he has learned about online writing.

Who The Book Is For

This book is aimed firmly at the new online writer. In 18 short sections, Write Right Online takes you through everything you need to know about online writing. What I love about the book is that it is a model of simplicity – anyone can follow it – yet it somehow gives new writers information – and examples – they can take away and use to improve their style, their visibility and the reach of their content.

Best Feature

For me, the best feature is the checklist, which goes with the book. Each point on the checklist relates to a tip in the book, so you can easily refer to it if you need a refresher. Even experienced writers will benefit from pinning this checklist up on a notice board in their office, as we all need a reminder some time.

Summing Up

What’s great about this book is that you can read it very quickly and start applying the lessons immediately. If you’re a new writer and want to get it right first time, then £17 ($27) is a small price to pay.

(Disclosure: I have not been paid for this review, though it does contain affiliate links.)

Write Right Online – A Review was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Tumblemoose In The Spotlight

Sharon Hurley Hall — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:42:11 +0000

Today’s task for the 31DBBB project is to feature a reader. That’s something I’ve been planning to do ever since I published my Getting To Know You Post and I want to start with George Angus, aka Tumblemoose. I ran into George somewhere online sometime in the last year, I think, and we’ve stopped by each other’s blogs a few times since then.

George’s site is called Tumblemoose Writing Services and it’s a well laid out site with lots of information that’s easy to access. And although it wasn’t my primary purpose in visiting his site, I’ve picked up a couple of ideas which I plan to implement here – more on that another time.

There are two reasons why I have enjoyed my interaction with George . First, he always leaves well thought out and thought provoking comments on my blog. Second, he’s got some really great posts which have the same effect. Posts of note recently include:

Are You A Writer Or An Author? - An author ‘conjures up visions of secluded cabins, late night furious writing sessions, tweed sportcoats with supple leather elbow patches and straight stemmed pipes.’
Use Flash Fiction To Move Your Writing Forward
The Art Of Being Nice – ‘nice does not mean spineless’

And, from the archives:

There’s not much more to say about George other than: read his blog. It’s fun!

Tumblemoose In The Spotlight was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Freedom Writing Review

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:35:39 +0000

One of the writing blogs I’ve been enjoying recently is Freedom Writing. My feed reader’s been overflowing for some time and I haven’t added any new blogs in a while, but this one keeps coming up, because of the thought provoking posts penned by author Kim Ferrell.

This is a new blog. It’s been live since September 2008 and the first post – which was also the first one that grabbed me, is called Writing Without A Niche. This is her rationale for writing about the various roles which she fulfils, so that this is not just a blog about writing.

One of the interesting series on the blog is Kim’s Zen Koan Writing Series, where she shares the writingÂ lessons she has learned from the Zen Koan stories. I particularly liked If You Love, Love Openly, where Kim urges us to send our writing out to the world.

Writing Builds Community highlights the service that writers provide:

We reach out and communicate via ink on paper (or type on a computer screen.) We inform, enlighten, and entertain our readers. After they have read our words, they are changed. They have benefited from our knowledge and experience. They have become a part of our community.

In January, Freedom Writing looks stronger than ever with some great posts including:

For me this blog is a great mix of writing about writing and writing about other issues relevant to us as freelancers, bloggers, women and people. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Kim posts this year.

Ultimate Freelancing Guide Review

Sharon Hurley Hall — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:35:08 +0000

When I’d finished reading the Ultimate Guide To A Successful Freelancing Career, my first thought was: is that it? Twenty-nine pages doesn’t seem enough space to provide an ultimate guide to anything. Written by experienced freelance writer, Glen Haskell, the book aims to talk about freelance writing in the real world, for writers who may have to juggle other commitments with their writing careers.

What’s Inside

In fairness, the book is full of common sense advice, including links to places to look for jobs, advice on getting those first writing gigs under your belt and much more.Â There are a couple of pages each on some of the important issues for freelancers, including findingÂ writing markets, removing roadblocks to writing, looking beyond magazine work, copyright, tax, setting prices andÂ marketing.

Sample Contracts

The book alsoÂ includes a fewÂ sample letters, contracts and agreements which will be useful for the new freelance writer. There are handy reminders of the key points in a column alongside each chapter, as well as prompts to make you consider the main issues, so there are multiple opportunities to get the information while reading.

Bonus Ebooks

However, I couldn’t help thinking that the author was asking a lot to expect you to part with $49 (reduced from $140) of your hard earned cash. For that price, you do get several bonus ebooks, which may provide additional value.Â Â At the time of writing these were:

Writing For Fast Cash
Breaking into Freelancing
A Fickle Muse
Writer’s Bootcamp
Goals and Deadlines

The Verdict

I think Ultimate Guide To A Successful Freelancing Career works as an introduction to the issues that freelancers face, but I’d want to see more detail on almost every area for it to justify its name. If you’re new to freelancing, then check it out. If you’re not, you may already know much of what’s inside.

Ultimate Freelancing Guide Review was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Quiet Rebel Writer Review

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:43:46 +0000

I love discovering new freelance writing blogs and one of the blogs I’ve discovered recently is Quiet Rebel Writer. The rebel writer is Amy Lillard, who says:

Writers have to be rebels. We have to take the idea of normal and turn it on its head. We have to examine the status quo and the world that exists around us, analyze it, question it, and present it to our readers in ways that make them think and see and feel.

This is just what she tries to do with her blog:

I look at writing as a self-sustaining, necessary activity that leads to effects both good and bad, and at the things from which my creativity and writing derive, all the ingredients for that strange brew inside.

The blog looks at freelancing, marketing, publishing and creativity, with a few rants thrown in. There’s also an intriguing section on word porn, which is designed to delight those who love the written word, and which digs out ‘wicked, wonky words’ for our delectation.

Here are a few of the posts that have caught my eye on this fascinating blog:

Rant: Writers Aren’t That Desperate
Madonna and Freelancing: An ‘AHA’ Marketing Moment
Quitting And Freelancing: When The Brushoff Is Sorely Needed

Amy’s posts are interesting and make full use of the complexity and wonder of the English language, so they appeal on many levels. This blog is a great place for a fun read on freelancing.

Men With Pens Review

Sharon Hurley Hall — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:09:09 +0000

Men with Pens is one of my favorite new blogs. It’s the successor to the Web Content Copywriting blog which I mentioned last year. Run by James Chartrand and Harry McCLeod, this is a writing blog with a difference. These guys really know how to write unique blog posts. It’s refreshing to read new perspectives on the issues we all face as freelancers and that’s why it’s one of the first blogs I read every day. Since moving to its new home, Men with Pens has kept up the quality that attracted me to the old blog, but the blog design is way, way better. It looks great, you can find lots of great posts from the home page, and the navigation is clear. The blog offers ‘web business tips for writers, freelancers and online entrepreneurs’ including:

Will Content Kill the Web?

‘PLR content drives down the market value of web content. Why buy pricier work when nearly-free (and sometimes free) is right there for the taking?’

Handling Your Perfectionism

‘One of the biggest problems perfectionists have is setting realistic goals. I never realized I set the bar too high for myself. Halfway through whatever I was working on achieving, when nothing went according to my vision, I would give up in frustration.’

What a Camera Can Teach You About Customer Service

Sorry, you’ll just have to read this one. No excerpt would do it justice.

There is so much good stuff in there it’s hard to give you a flavour of it. The blog focuses on blogging, business, design and writing, and currently has a great series on fiction writing. Just to round out the list, here are some posts with great titles that made me stop and look:

Over the past year, posts from this blog, and its predecessor, have turned up regularly in my links roundups, which shows how consistently readable it is. If you haven’t done so, check it out.

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Writerâ€™s Round-About Reviews This Blog

Sharon Hurley Hall — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:27:32 +0000

It’s always nice to know you’ve made a difference to someone, so I was very pleased when I realised that Rebecca Laffar-Smith had reviewed Get Paid to Write Online. She’s said so many nice things about this blog – and me – that I’m blushing, and she’s also highlighted the ten posts that she thinks her readers will find most useful. Thanks, Rebecca.

Writerâ€™s Round-About Reviews This Blog was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.