Tables of Contents

Tables of contents help readers in two ways: (1) they outline the structure of the document and thus provide insight into the document’s organization, and (2) they provide the page numbers for all sections and subsections, thus helping readers to locate parts of the document.

Editors often choose to shorten Table of Contents to merely Contents. We retained the full phrase as the title of this entry, but we recommend simply Contents when you are labeling a page in a document.

Creating a preliminary table of contents is a useful writing technique because writers have to think carefully about the document’s organization. Gaps, illogical order, and misplaced emphasis become more apparent when the writer is forced to clarify and complete a preliminary table of contents.

The final table of contents cannot be prepared until the document is finished and the pages numbered.

Your computer will create a table of contents for you. The following rules will help you decide what goes into your table of contents.

1. Use a table of contents for any report longer than 10 pages.

The 10-page figure is arbitrary, but remember that a table of contents helps readers to see the overall organization of the document as well as to find key sections. Documents under 10 pages are generally short and uncomplicated enough for readers to determine the structure by skimming through the document before reading. However, skimming through longer documents may not provide an adequate sense of structure because the reader’s mind is being asked to comprehend too much information spread over too great a distance.

2. Include major divisions (often chapter headings) and the next level of subdivisions in the table of contents.

Major divisions and the next level subdivisions are essential if readers are to comprehend the document’s structure. Make the division titles as specific as possible:

this

2. Testing for Flammability

2.1 Temperatures

2.2 Duration

2.3 Flash Points

not this

2. Testing

NOTE: Ensure that all of the divisions and subdivisions that appear in the table of contents also appear in the body of the document. See HEADINGS.

3. Use letters and numbers with division and subdivision titles in the table of contents only if you also use them in the text.

A table of contents can resemble an outline with page numbers, but such an outline structure (I, A, 1, a, etc.) is not necessary unless the chapter or section titles and the headings in the document reflect the same numbering system. Tables of contents often have a decimal numbering system (1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, etc.) in place of the standard outline system. Either system is acceptable. See OUTLINES and NUMBERING SYSTEMS.

4. Use blank lines, indentation, and leader dots to lay out the table of contents and help readers find page numbers.

Leave blank lines between major entries, and ensure that the spacing reflects the logical structure of the document. For instance, you may want to leave two lines between major divisions (first-level headings) and one line between major subdivisions (second-level headings). Readers should be able to tell where major divisions occur simply by noting the number of lines between entries.

Use indentation to show levels of subordination. Major divisions (first-level headings) should be flush left. Major subdivisions (second-level headings) should be indented five spaces. Minor subdivisions (third-level headings) should be indented 10 spaces, and so on.

Finally, consider using leader dots (a row of unspaced periods) to connect entries with their page numbers. Leader dots allow readers’ eyes to trace the connection across the page.

To emphasize major divisions or subdivisions, you might also use all capital letters, boldface type, and other emphatic techniques. See EMPHASIS.

The table of contents example in figure 1 shows one method of displaying the organizational structure of a document and of providing page numbers to help readers locate the document’s parts. For another example, see the table of contents to this Style Guide.

Figure 1. Sample Table of Contents. This table of contents includes second-level headings so that readers can easily find the relevant sections.

5. Include preliminary material and appendices or attachments in the table of contents.

Some writers ignore the preliminary material such as the preface or foreword and attachments when they construct their tables of contents. However, a table of contents should reflect the structure of the entire document, so include all of the document’s parts.

6. If appropriate, supplement your table of contents with a matrix or checksheet showing how and where you have dealt with key requirements or issues.

Such matrices or checksheets do not replace the standard table of contents or an index, but they can help guide readers to see how you have organized your document. They are especially valuable when you need to show readers that you have met all legal or procedural requirements. See TABLES.

These matrices or checksheets have various formats, but as figures 2 and 3 on the next page show, most requirements or issues are usually listed vertically down the left with the document sections or chapters horizontally across the top. Page numbers (or subsection numbers) appear in the matrix.

Place a matrix where readers can easily use it to track content questions. Often the most obvious placement is for a matrix to follow the contents page(s). As an option, consider printing the matrix on a foldout sheet positioned at the end of the document. Readers can open the foldout and use it to track points as they read.

Figure 2. A Matrix from a Proposal. A two-column matrix may be sufficient to track the way the document responds to each requirement listed in a client’s statement of work. An option would be to list all section titles and numbers across the top and then fill in the matrix with page numbers.

Figure 3. A Matrix From an Environmental Document. The issues are crucial to the organization (and legality) of the document. By showing that each issue appears in each chapter, the writer is able to show readers that all issues have been consistently addressed. In a sense, a matrix like this could replace the index. See INDEXES and TABLES.

Thinking Strategies

Writing and thinking are to a very great extent the same process. A piece of writing readily reveals the quality of thinking behind it, and writers who cannot think clearly—no matter how cosmetically attractive their documents and grammatically flawless their language—cannot produce good writing.

Note how the rules of critical thinking are phrased in the form of writing challenges:

• Frame a problem clearly so that it can be analyzed.

• Reason logically from one point to another.

• Make clear information out of raw facts and data.

• Evaluate alternative viewpoints, including underlying assumptions and implications.

• Arrive at reasoned conclusions based on firm logic and evidence.

The flaws that weaken writing are the same failings that afflict unsound thinking: unclear framing of the issue, breaks in logic, undigested data, unexamined biases, and wobbly conclusions. By the same token, substantive writing is evidence of high-quality thinking.

The following discussion shows how common thinking strategies can help you to develop a cogent and convincing message. For example, the simple strategy of listing pros and cons might help you organize your thoughts to create an effective document.

1. Choose one or more thinking strategies to help you address a problem or resolve an issue.

What are the possible strategies? In ancient Greece, rhetoricians first described methods or strategies of thinking that enabled them to communicate logically and persuasively. The questions listed in figure 1 are merely an updated version of the strategies known and practiced by the ancient Greeks.

Figure 1. Thinking Strategies. Each of these questions drives a different strategy for thinking through an issue and also suggests methods for writing about the issue.

When you are dealing with an issue or a problem, begin by surveying the questions in figure 1. Which ones might be helpful? Often you will find that several of them have promise.

As an example of how to use the strategy questions, assume that you need to decide whether to close a branch office. In this instance, you decide that questions 2, 5, and 11 might be helpful.

The most influential writing often arises from thinking through question 14, and the worst writing—no matter how well reasoned and cosmetically pleasing—often arises from the failure to challenge assumptions.

For example, in 19^th-century science, many carefully reasoned and “beautifully written” books used the Newtonian paradigm to try to solve certain problems in physics. But because the authors failed to challenge Newton’s assumptions, much of their work collapsed when Einstein’s paradigm of relativity superseded Newton’s thinking.

2. Brainstorm schematically or visually your answers to each chosen question.

Working alone or in teams, brainstorm answers to a given question.

Create a schematic or visualization of your thinking, using pad and pencil, a whiteboard, multiple flip-chart pages, or a computer projection. In a teleconference, take advantage of online programs that can help everyone see the shared thinking.

This visualization is not merely a list of words. As shown in figure 2, make your thinking visible by sketching tables, diagrams, or charts. Also, don’t try to write connected text, which can come later. Instead, your goal is to generate and capture your best thinking.

Figure 2. Visualization Patterns. As you record your answers and thoughts relating to the strategy questions, use one or more of these visualization patterns. Or create your own visualization to fit your specific data.

Figure 2 shows several common visual thinking strategies that you might use as you develop your ideas. Pick one and flesh it out until the flow of ideas dries up. Then, if you still need more information, try a second strategy.

Retain (or record) these visualizations for later use. Show them to interested people—customers, bosses, members of your online community—to get input on your ideas. Such a visualization might serve as an initial prototype for an important document. See WRITING AND REVISING.

Whatever way you decide to retain or record information, you should add the following facts, as appropriate:

• Who teamed with you to generate the ideas

• When and where you generated and recorded the ideas

• What comes next and who is responsible for this next step

• How the information should be filed or cross-referenced for retrieval and later use (or expansion)

Recording and retrieval are crucial steps, especially given the increasing amount of information available. See MANAGING INFORMATION.

3. Use your visualizations to guide your writing.

Visualizations should drive every step in the thinking process. Early in the process, visualization helps you discover ideas. Visualization should also guide you as you communicate your message. See WRITING AND REVISING.

The early visualization often becomes a primary graphic for what you intend to write. See GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS and GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS.

For example, if you have spent time analyzing the effects of a proposal, you might decide to use as a primary graphic a cause-and-effect flow chart (example 5 in figure 2).

Or to consider another example, if you are analyzing the root causes for a problem, such as the delivery of the wrong food in a hospital, you might choose to list these causes as reasons arranged around a circle with the problem stated in the middle (example 2 in figure 2).

Even if you don’t choose to use an actual graphic in your document, the form of the early visualization should help you design and organize your document. If you determined that the solution to a problem required three key actions, you would want to design a document with three major subdivisions (example 4 in figure 2).

As in these examples, use the initial visualization as the basis of your final documentation or presentation. Good documents must be well-designed visual constructs if they are to communicate effectively and memorably. See EMPHASIS, GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS, and ORGANIZATION.

Titles

Titles of people, organizations, governments, and publications often require special capitalization, punctuation, and other format conventions. See NOUNS and CAPITALS.

1. Capitalize the first letter of titles when they immediately precede personal names, but do not capitalize the first letter when they follow personal names:

Mrs. Robert T. Evans

Mr. Edward Johnson

Miss Sylvia Smead

Ms. Josephine Kukor

President Amy Kaufmann

Assistant Professor Ned Davies

Mayor-elect Boon Hollenbeck

General Laswell Hopkins Lieutenant

Cynthia Wagner

the Reverend John Tyler

Rabbi Tochterman

______________

Amy Kaufmann, the president of Union College, spoke to the press.

Ned Davies is an assistant professor at Columbia University.

We voted for Boon Hollenbeck, who is now mayor-elect.

Laswell Hopkins was our general for only 2 months.

Our lieutenant was Cynthia Wagner. (Here, was separates the title from the name.)

NOTE 1: The titles of high-ranking international, national, and state officials often retain their capitalization, even when the name of the individual is either absent or does not follow the title:

The President spoke before the Congress.

We wrote the Vice President.

The Pope toured South America.

The Governor still had 2 years to serve.

The Prime Minister of Ghana was invited to the White House.

NOTE 2: Titles of company or corporation executives as well as titles of lesser federal and state officials are sometimes capitalized. Such capitalization is unnecessary, but you should follow company or agency practice:

The Mayor announced an end to the New York transit strike. (or The mayor)

The Vice President for Finance is resigning Monday, September 18.

The Superintendent refused to approve our budget request.

NOTE 3: Titles used in a general sense are not capitalized:

a U.S. representative

a king

a prime minister

an ambassador

2. Capitalize the first letter of names of companies, schools, organizations, and religious bodies:

the Johnson Wax Company

the University of Glasgow

the World Trade Organization

the Urban League of Detroit

the Liberal Party

St. John’s Lutheran Church

NOTE: The words capitalized are those normally capitalized in any title. See CAPITALS. In contrast with book titles, an initial the in most such titles is not capitalized unless the company, school, organization, or religious body has established the as part of its legal name: The Johns Hopkins University, The Travelers Insurance Company. See CAPITALS.

3. Capitalize the first letter of names of government bodies:

the United Nations

the Cabinet

the Medicines Control Agency

the California Legislature

the Manitoba Department of Education

the Devon County Council

the House (for House of Representatives)

the Department (for Department of Agriculture)

the Court (for the U.S. Supreme Court)

NOTE 1: Except for international and national bodies, shortened forms of these government bodies or common terms are not capitalized.

the police department

the county council

the board of education

NOTE 2: As explained in rule 2, initial uses of the do not require a capital T.

4. Capitalize and italicize (or underline) the titles of books, magazines, newspapers, plays, movies, television series, blogs, and other separately published works:

Oliver Twist (book or movie)

Newsweek

The Guardian

West Side Story

Superman

NOVA

Lifehacker

See CAPITALS, ITALICS, and UNDERLINING.

5. Capitalize and use quotation marks for chapters of books, articles in magazines, news stories or editorials, acts within a play, episodes of a television series, or other sections of something separately produced or published:

The last chapter was called “The Final Irony.”

“The Colombian Connection” was the lead article in last week’s Time.

We supported his editorial, “A Streamlined Election System.”

We watched “The Fatal Circle” last night on BBC Presents.

See QUOTATION MARKS, UNDERLINING, and ITALICS.

Tone

Tone reflects your attitude toward your subject and your readers. Your writing may strike your readers as personal or impersonal, friendly or distant. You may sound warm and engaging or cold and abrupt.

Tone and style are often confused. Some people use the terms interchangeably, but one is the cause and the other the effect:

• Tone refers to the feeling or impression a document conveys to its readers. It is one of the products of the writer’s style.

• Style refers to the writer’s choices that create the tone readers perceive. Style is the writer’s “manner of speaking,” the way the writer uses language to express ideas.

See STYLE and SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL STYLE.

Tone, then, is the impression readers receive from your writing and the attitude conveyed in your treatment of the subject. We usually describe the tone of a piece of writing with these words:

Desirable Business Tone

Most of the time, your business documents should be:

The extent to which your documents are personal will depend on your relationship with the reader. But never fail to be courteous, polite, informative, sincere, and helpful—especially when you don’t know the reader.

If you need to convey negative information, as in a poor performance appraisal or reprimand, or in a document threatening legal action, your document may need to be:

However, you should never write documents that are:

Good business documents—no matter how tough or adversarial they are—should never be discourteous.

Below are the stylistic choices that will help you write business letters and memos that have an effective tone. Not coincidentally, these are the same rules that make writing clear, concise, and easy to read.

1. Use pronouns to establish a personal, human tone in letters and memos.

Probably no single language choice is as effective in making business documents sound human and personal as well-chosen pronouns. Of the pronouns possible, you is the most important. You should always be aware of your readers and address them directly:

this

During the discussion of your April bill, you mentioned that you had called your local service representative at least three times during the month. Do you remember the representative’s name and the dates when you called?

not this

Concerning the April bill, the local service representative may have been called, but these calls cannot be verified unless the representative’s name and the dates when the representative was called are provided to this office.

The ineffective version has no personal pronouns; consequently, the reader is ignored. Omitting personal pronouns makes the letter cold and informal. The passive verbs contribute to the impersonal tone and make the letter sound unfriendly at best. See ACTIVE/PASSIVE.

Next to you, the pronouns I and we are essential for effective letters and memos. Some people argue that the writer should not be mentioned in documents. They argue that documents should not reflect personal opinions or the personality of the author. This argument fails to distinguish between personal opinions and personal responsibility for one’s actions. Contrast these two examples:

this

Based on the data, I (or we) conclude that MOGO should plug and abandon the Gilbert Ray Well 3.

not this

Based on the data, it is concluded that MOGO should plug and abandon the Gilbert Ray Well 3.

The second version is mechanical, almost robotic. No person seems to have acted. The conclusion simply occurred, like something out of the twilight zone. The result is a faceless, anonymous tone, one calculated to avoid responsibility and perhaps to confuse readers or keep them deliberately in the dark.

2. Make your letters and memos sound very much like the language you would choose if you actually talked with the readers.

Read your document aloud. Would you be comfortable saying those words to someone in person? If you delivered the message to readers orally, would you express yourself this way?

The tone of a good business document is a natural one. It isn’t full of slang or homey conversational expressions (Well shucks, I reckon we ought to drill anyways), but it should sound natural, not forced or contrived. If the document does not sound natural, if it is stiff and complex, if it is formal and faceless, you should rethink your tone. See LETTERS AND MEMOS.

A business document is not a transcription of your actual words, pauses, corrections, and other verbal lapses (Well, uh, I think that, uh, if we, uh . . .). It should, however, be similar to the way you talk. Even contractions are useful in letters and memos but not in more formal reports. See APOSTROPHES and CONTRACTIONS.

The words, phrases, and sentences you use should be simple and direct, even though you have edited and revised them:

this

I recommend that we immediately replace the roof on the Bradley building.

not this

It is recommended that the roof on the Bradley building be replaced forthwith.

______________

this

Before leaving the room, turn out the lights.

not this

Prior to evacuating the premises, ensure that the illumination has been terminated.

The simplest remedy for overly stiff, bureaucratic writing is to write like a human being. Don’t write like an official, faceless bureaucrat. Just be yourself. Imagine that you’re talking to other people in person. Try to sound human, not mechanical.

Using personal pronouns will help considerably. Here are some other suggestions:

• Keep your sentences short and direct. Challenge any sentence that is longer than 30 words, and try to limit average sentence length to about 20 words. You can often break a long sentence into two shorter sentences. Ensure that each sentence, whatever its length, is as clear and direct as possible. See SENTENCES.

• Avoid long, unnecessarily complex words and unnecessary technical terms. See GOBBLEDYGOOK and JARGON. Never use words because you think those words are impressive. The writer who struggles to sound intelligent and educated (often by using a thesaurus) winds up sounding silly:

this

We think your water pipes have corroded so much that only a trickle of water can flow through them.

not this

Our hypothesis is that your water supply system has undergone severe corrosion and reached the debilitating point where water normally available is unavailable in the quantity and at the pressure provided for in the original specifications for your domicile.

Leaving aside the laughable words (debilitating and domicile), the second version still suffers from terminal wordiness. Isn’t pipes better than water supply system? And corroded so much better than undergone severe corrosion? What do the inexact references to quantity and pressure accomplish that the word trickle doesn’t do more vividly? The idea being expressed does not require technical terms, especially if the primary reader is a homeowner, not an engineer.

Legal documents often suffer from the same kind of wordiness and unnecessary complexity:

this

According to the procedure outlined above, please sign all three copies of the conveyance and have your signature notarized. Then return the completed forms to this office by Friday, May 23.

not this

In accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned procedure, the attached conveyance should be executed by you in triplicate, with the signature duly witnessed and attested to by a Notary Public, and the executed set of conveyance forms should then be returned to this office on or before, and no later than, Friday, May 23.

3. Choose sentence structures that reflect a friendly, conversational tone.

• Avoid passive sentences:

this

Our review of your claim indicates that you should receive a refund of $72. This refund would apply to December charges.

not this

Your claim has been reviewed, and it has been determined that $72 should be refunded to you for the period January to December.

______________

this

We analyzed the data entries for the sources of the discrepancies. Over 90 percent of the discrepancies turned out to be simple errors in daily recording.

not this

The data entries have been analyzed to determine the source of the discrepancies. It is concluded that over 90 percent of the discrepancies were caused by simple errors in daily recording.

See ACTIVE/PASSIVE.

• Avoid false subjects:

this

Unless we address these issues during this quarter, they will distort our financial report for the entire year.

not this

There are certain issues that we should address during this quarter that will distort our financial report for the entire year.

______________

this

Under Pharmtech’s policies, we will not acquire additional laboratory equipment until the beginning of the new fiscal year.

not this

It is likely that, given Pharmtech’s policies, it will be impossible to acquire additional laboratory equipment until the beginning of the new fiscal year.

See FALSE SUBJECTS.

4. Include personal information and personal references.

Readers like to know that you have addressed their needs. So, if appropriate, include information from previous letters, memos, or discussions in your document. Or include information they have either requested or will need:

I recommend that you file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Your review of the relevant correspondence with the company persuaded me that you have a case.

A mechanical yet easy way to make a letter or memo personal is to include the reader’s name in the body of the letter:

So, Beth, if you have any more suggestions, please call me at ext. 3578.

or

If we proceed, Cal, you should ask Product Research for a copy of their assessment form. I think you’d find it helpful.

NOTE: As in the preceding example, an occasional contraction (you’d) makes the tone conversational and informal. See APOSTROPHES and CONTRACTIONS.

5. Choose your paper, font, and format to reflect a personal, friendly tone.

Even physical concerns can affect the tone of a business letter or memo.

Choose quality paper (usually 20-pound rag paper) and a pleasing font. With computers, the font options are growing. Know your options. Your goal is to capture the personal, friendly quality of the content of your letter (consider Helvetica or Optima). Some fonts are too rigid and stark (American Typewriter). Others are too strange (Script, which attempts to look like cursive writing). See PAGE LAYOUT.

Next, design your document so that it has a lean and open look, one conveying a personal, friendly tone. This design usually means using generous margins, short paragraphs (on the average), headings, lists, and lots of white space. See EMPHASIS.

Transitions

Transitions are words or phrases that connect ideas and show how they are related. Occurring between two sentences or paragraphs, a transition shows how the sentences or paragraphs are connected, thus making the writing smoother and more logical. A transition creates a point of reference for readers, allowing them to see how the writing is organized and where it is heading.

Following is a list of transitions and their functions.

A List of Transitions

Addition

additionally, again, also, besides, further, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, next, too, what is more

Comparison or contrast

by contrast, by the same token, conversely, however, in contrast, in spite of, instead, in such a manner, likewise, nevertheless, otherwise, on the contrary, on the one hand, on the other hand, rather, similarly, still, yet

Concession

anyway, at any rate, be that as it may, even so, however, in any case, in any event, nevertheless, of course, still

Consequence

accordingly, as a result, consequently, hence, otherwise, so, then, therefore, thus

Diversion

by the way, incidentally

Generalization

as a rule, as usual, for the most part, generally, in general, ordinarily, usually

Illustration

for example, for instance

Place

close, here, near, nearby, there

Restatement

in essence, in other words, namely, that is

Summary

after all, all in all, briefly, by and large, finally, in any case, in any event, in brief, in conclusion, in short, in summary, on balance, on the whole, ultimately

Time and sequence

after a while, afterward, at first, at last, at the same time, currently, finally, first (second, third, etc.), first of all, for now, for the time being, immediately, instantly, in conclusion, in the first place, in the meantime, in time, in turn, later, meanwhile, next, presently, previously, simultaneously, soon, subsequently, then, to begin with

See CONJUNCTIONS, ORGANIZATION, and PARAGRAPHS.

1. Use commas to separate transitions from the main body of a sentence:

However, uncontrolled R&D efforts that do not design quality into the product, process, or service may be of dubious value.

Consequently, areas of future focus will include software design, packaging enhancements, and marketing efforts in the Pacific Rim.

The regulator poppet is, however, normally held open by the regulating spring.

Transitions interrupt and are generally not part of the main thought of the sentence; therefore, you should separate them from the rest of the sentence. When a transitional word occurs where two complete thoughts are joined, as in the following sentence, use a semicolon where the two complete thoughts join (usually in front of the transition) and a comma after the transition:

The scope of this study will not permit a review of all technologies; however, we believe our experience in advanced ship design will allow us to maximize the study of those areas with greater operational potential.

See SEMICOLONS and COMMAS.

2. If the transition interrupts the flow of a sentence, place commas on both sides of the transitional word or phrase:

Upon examination, for instance, the clinical monitor considered 10 patients to have significant findings.

The sensor probe, on the other hand, contains thermistor sensing elements.

3. If a transitional word occurs at the beginning of a sentence and is essential to the meaning of the sentence, do not separate it with a comma:

However warm air enters the cabin, the conditioned temperature will not rise above the nominal range.

NOTE: Such sentences can be confusing, so you should consider rephrasing the sentence:

Regardless of how warm air enters the cabin, the conditioned temperature will not rise above the nominal range.

Underlining

Underlining can replace italics as a tool for highlighting certain unusual words and phrases. See ITALICS. You can also underline words, phrases, and sentences to emphasize them.

Underlining is becoming less common because word-processing programs provide italics.

So, in rules 1 to 4 below, italics would be preferred if it is available. In rule 5, underlining, not italics, would still be preferred. See ITALICS and WORD PROCESSING.

Editors differ as to whether to underline words and the spaces between them or only the words. Given the influence of word processing, which allows writers to highlight a block of text and then underline it, the pattern of continuous underlining is more common:

The Making of a President

not

The Making of a President

1. Underline words used as examples of words:

The words affect and effect are often confused.

The contract stipulated that monitoring must be continuous, but during negotiation they stated that periodic monitoring would suffice. Should the contract read continual or periodic rather than continuous?

NOTE: Single letters, words, and even phrases should be underlined to separate them from the ordinary words within a sentence:

The phrase come hell or high water has a long and interesting history.

Some editors prefer to use quotation marks for words and phrases used unusually within a sentence. However, quotation marks clutter up a sentence if several words are being talked about:

The forms “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” and “were” don’t even resemble “be,” which is the principal form of the verb.

2. Underline foreign words and phrases that have not been absorbed into English:

After a coup d’oeil, the detective was ready to question the suspect. (Coup d’oeil means “a quick survey.”)

NOTE: Contrast coup d’oeil, which is clearly not part of English, with ad hoc, which is now so familiar that no underlining is necessary. Many modern dictionaries fail to specify whether a word should be considered foreign or not, so you may have to use your own judgment.

3. Underline the titles of separate publications and productions:

I bought a copy of The Wall Street Journal.

Have you read the novel All Quiet on the Western Front?

The Sunshine Patriot is a pamphlet being circulated by the Republican Party.

We attended a preview of The Story of the Bell System.

We have tickets for the opening night of Aida.

NOTE: Underline separately published or produced items, but use quotation marks for book chapters, articles in magazines, and sections of the separate works:

The latest issue of the Oil and Gas Journal contained an article entitled “Shearing Problems with Sucker Rods.”

The London Times had an editorial entitled “A Bold Proposal.”

See QUOTATION MARKS and TITLES.

4. Underline the names of aircraft, vessels, and spacecraft:

U.S.S. Constitution

H.M.S. Bounty

Gemini 4

5. Underline words and phrases for emphasis:

Please send two copies to us by Friday, October 13, at the latest.

Unscrew the fitting by turning it clockwise, not counterclockwise.

NOTE: Use underlining for emphasis sparingly. Underlined text is difficult to read, and the effect diminishes quickly if you overuse it. See EMPHASIS.

Units of Measurement

Units of measurement include either English units (also called the U.S. customary system) or metric units. Many U.S. firms still favor English units, but metric units are now widely used by scientists and engineers. See METRICS.

1. Use the following common English units to measure length and area.

NOTE: The abbreviations for these units of measurement usually appear only in tables, charts, graphs, and other visuals. See ABBREVIATIONS.

2. Use the following common English units for volume or capacity and weight:

NOTE: Although the British Commonwealth and the United States both use the same names for units and their abbreviations, the two systems do differ, so be cautious in interpreting publications using these units. Here, for example, are the equivalents between the British Imperial units and the U.S. English or customary units:

Verbs

Verbs are the key action words in most sentences. They tell what the subject has done, is doing, or will be doing, and they indicate the subject’s relationship to the object or complement. Because verbs also signal time through their different tenses (forms), they are potentially the most important words in a sentence. For instance, varying only the verb in a sentence produces major shifts in the meaning:

She shows us her report.

She showed us her report.

She will show us her report.

She has shown us her report.

She had shown us her report.

She will have shown us her report.

She is showing us her report.

She was showing us her report.

She will be showing us her report.

These nine sentences only begin to illustrate all the possible verb forms. If we include more complex verb phrases, the possibilities multiply:

She is going to be showing us her report.

She must have been showing us her report.

Principal Verb Forms

Verbs commonly have several standard forms (called principal parts) from which all the other verb forms are built:

Regular verbs, like call, routinely require only an –s, –ed, or –ing to change the base form. If a dictionary does not supply any forms except the base form, the verb is regular, like call.

Irregular verbs, like eat and cut, are unpredictable, so writers have to know the different forms, not just follow the regular pattern. Dictionaries include these irregular forms in their entries for these verbs.

NOTE: Unfortunately, not all verbs are clearly regular or irregular. The following verbs, for example, have two different forms of the past participle, one regular, the other irregular:

mow, mowed, mown (or mowed)

show, showed, showed (or shown)

swell, swelled, swollen (or swelled)

1. Check a recent dictionary to determine the correct forms for any verb you are unsure of.

Here, for instance, are the main forms for some of the common irregular verbs:

buy, bought, bought

cost, cost, cost

drink, drank, drunk

freeze, froze, frozen

keep, kept, kept

lead, led, led

lie, lay, lain

light, lighted/lit, lighted/lit

rise, rose, risen

sell, sold, sold

sit, sat, sat

speak, spoke, spoken

spoil, spoilt/spoiled, spoilt/spoiled

take, took, taken

tear, tore, torn

think, thought, thought

wet, wet/wetted, wet/wetted

write, wrote, written

NOTE: Where two forms exist, the regular forms (with —ed) are becoming more common. Over time, many irregular verbs have changed and are changing into regular verbs.

Verb Tenses

Verbs have the following basic tenses or times:

Basic Verb Tenses

In addition, a parallel set of progressive forms exists, which indicates that the action is continuing:

Progressive Verb Tenses

Finally, a parallel set of passive verb tenses also exists:

Passive Verb Tenses

NOTE: As in the above sentences, passive verb sentences highlight the object or thing receiving the action, not the person or thing performing the action. The passive sentences above do not identify the person who is, was, or will be studying the report. In most cases, you should favor the active verb and avoid the passive. See ACTIVE/PASSIVE.

2. Vary your verb tenses to reflect the varying timing of events in your writing.

This rule contradicts what you may have learned in high school: “Don’t mix your tenses.” Actually, you can and should vary your tenses to reflect the often diverse time relationships of your subject:

Yesterday, we analyzed (past) the samples for any traces of zinc ore. We found (past) none. Today, however, we were reexamining (past progressive) the sample when we found (past) two promising pieces of rock. They have (present) veins like zinc ore, although their color is (present) not quite right. Our report will therefore show (future) the potential presence of zinc.

Most writers choose their tenses unconsciously, but several basic conventions exist for selecting tenses in technical writing:

—Record in the past tense experiments and tests performed in the past:

The second run produced flawed data because the heating unit failed. We failed to detect the failure until the run was almost over.

—Use the present tense for scientific facts and truths:

Water freezes at 32°F, unless a chemical in the water changes its freezing point.

Newton discovered that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

—Use the present tense to discuss data within a published report:

The slope of the temperature curve decreases sharply at 20 minutes. The figures in table 3–14 document this decrease.

—Shift from present to past tense as necessary to refer to research studies and prior papers. When you are discussing an author and his or her research, use the past tense:

Jones (1976) studied a limited dose of the drug. He concluded that no harmful side effects occurred.

—When you are discussing different current theories, use the present tense:

Jones (1976) argues that limited doses of the drug produce no harmful side effects. His data, however, are flawed because he failed to distinguish between the natural and synthetic versions of the drug.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are the most common verbs in English: is, are, was, were, be, been, can, could, do, did, has, have, had, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, and used to. See STRONG VERBS.

Auxiliaries are crucial to many of the tenses presented above, but auxiliaries also can function by themselves as main sentence verbs:

The tests are complete.

He did the primary drawings.

They have no budget.

See STRONG VERBS.

Verbs and Agreement

The verb should agree in number with its subject. So a plural subject requires a plural verb, and a singular subject requires a singular verb:

The geologist has completed the tests. (singular)

The geologists have completed the tests. (plural)

A test was completed last week. (singular)

Several tests were completed last week. (plural)

The investigator has completed the medical tests. (singular)

The investiagtors have completed the medical tests. (plural)

See AGREEMENT.

3. Ensure that your verbs agree with your subjects.

The only circumstance in which verbs change their forms to adjust to different numbers is in the third person forms of the present tense:

She works every day. (singular)

They work every day. (plural)

She is the candidate. (singular)

They are the candidates. (plural)

He has the answer. (singular)

They have the answer. (plural)

It is broken. (singular)

They are broken. (plural)

NOTE 1: Third person singular verbs have an –s ending, as in works above. The third person plural verbs have no –s, as in work. So the rule for verbs is the opposite of nouns: The forms with –s endings are the singular forms.

NOTE 2: The verb be is exceptional because it changes in the present tense to agree with different pronouns:

I am studying.

You are studying. (singular)

He, she, it is studying.

We are studying.

You are studying. (plural)

They are studying.

Subjunctive Verbs

Subjunctive verbs are special verb forms that signal recommendations or conditions contrary to fact. Centuries ago, subjunctives were very common verb forms, but today they are limited to the instances covered in the following two rules.

4. Use a subjunctive verb in if clauses to state a situation that is untrue, impossible, or highly unlikely:

If I were (not was) the candidate, I would not agree to a debate.

If it were (not was) raining, we couldn’t conduct the experiment.

If I were (not was) you, I would change banks.

NOTE 1: The above sentences require were rather than normal was, which would appear to agree with the subjects. This use amounts to a historical survival, so it doesn’t fit our modern expectations. (Actually, other verbs in if clauses are subjunctive, but only the were/was pattern looks or sounds exceptional.)

NOTE 2: Subjunctive verbs are especially useful when a writer has to make recommendations. The if clause presents the hypothetical condition, and then the main clause indicates what would, could, or might happen:

If the Accounting Department were reorganized, overall efficiency could increase by perhaps 50 percent.

If rainfall were 40 inches a year or more, most dirt roads would be impassable.

See would in WORD PROBLEMS.

NOTE 3: If the if clause states something that is possible or likely, then do not use a subjunctive:

If he leaves this job, he’ll get $500 in severance pay.

If it was an error, and I suspect it was, then we’ll have to pay you damages.

5. Use subjunctive verbs in sentences making strong recommendations or demands, or indicating necessity:

I recommend that the case be settled by Tuesday.

He demands that the money be refunded.

The court has resolved that the witness be found in contempt of court.

______________

It is essential that he leave by noon.

They urge that she return the money.

They resolved that Dan write the termination letter.

NOTE 1: As the first three sentences show, if the verb in the that clause would normally be am, is, or are, then its subjunctive form is be.

NOTE 2: As the last three sentences show, if the verb in the that clause is normally a third person singular verb, then its subjunctive form does not take the usual –s ending.

Word Problems

Words are symbols representing persons, places, things, actions, qualities, characteristics, states of being, and abstract ideas. Words are the substance of language.

A major writing problem can occur if you use the wrong word for the context. Which of the words within parentheses in the following sentences are correct?

(You’re, Your) supposed to call the manager before leaving.

The (principal, principle) problem with this alternative is its reliance on a second wash cycle between chemical baths.

The plan will (affect, effect) residents living south of the city.

In all three cases, the first word is correct. Using the wrong word might not prevent readers from understanding the sentences. But many readers might begin to wonder if you are literate. And if you seem illiterate, then even the facts in a document might appear questionable. So using correct words is important.

You should be aware, however, that using incorrect or imprecise words in legal documents (or in any document that can potentially be subject to interpretation in a courtroom) is very dangerous. Courts tend to support the word on the page, not what the author claims to have intended.

Sometimes, using the incorrect word causes serious confusion and potential misinterpretation:

Please ensure that the third production cycle is stopped continuously for quality-assurance testing.

Continuously means “uninterrupted or constant.” Continually means “recurring often.” If the production cycle is stopped continuously, then it never runs. If the cycle is stopped continually, it is stopped frequently, but not constantly. Some readers might not make this distinction. For the sake of clarity, the writer would be better off issuing a more specific order:

Please ensure that the third production cycle is stopped every half hour for quality-assurance testing.

Some words are clearly correct or incorrect. You can’t write it’s when you mean its, and vice versa. However, some distinctions are more difficult to make. Even the dictionaries do not offer clear-cut distinctions in some cases:

(Since, Because) we had not received payment, we decided to close the account.

They proposed to publish a (bimonthly, semimonthly) newsletter for all employees.

The proposal (that, which) you prepared has turned out to be very profitable.

In the first example sentence, both choices do include the notion of causality, but since primarily means “before now” or “from some time in the past until now.” Only secondarily does since suggest causality. Thus, strict editors consider because less ambiguous.

In the second sentence, bimonthly is unclear because the ambiguous bi– can mean either twice within a time period (twice a month) or every other time period (every 2 months). Semimonthly, which has always meant twice a month, has suffered because of the confusion over bimonthly. Given the confusion between the two terms, you should avoid both terms and just say twice a month or every 2 months.

In the third sentence, both words are acceptable to many writers and editors. According to strict editors, however, that is more correct because the clause it introduces is essential to the sentence and cannot be removed; if the clause were nonessential, which would be the more correct word and the nonessential clause would be separated from the main clause by commas. Many educated writers and speakers violate this distinction, some using that and which almost interchangeably. So, insisting that that is the only correct choice for the third sentence is difficult.

Language and usage rules cannot be and never have been independent from the living language they describe. The spoken and written language that people use is always the final arbiter in disputes over word correctness. And a living language is always changing, so today’s correct choice might be tomorrow’s error. Good writers must remain alert to changes in a word’s meaning and the acceptability of those changes.

The following list of problem word choices reflects some of the main choices facing today’s writers. You should supplement this list and update it as necessary to remain current.

For information about words not in the following list, or if you want more detailed information, see Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (Springfield Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1989).

Word Problems

accent/ascent/assent. Accent is both a verb meaining “to emphasize or stress” and a noun meaning “emphasis.” Ascent (noun) means “a going up or rising movement.” Assent means “to agree” or “an agreement”:

He accented the word demotion.

His accent on the word demotion betrayed his true feelings.

His ascent up the corporate ladder has been rapid.

The trustee’s assent is necessary before we sign the agreement.

accept/except. Accept is a verb meaning “to receive.” Except is a preposition meaning “to the exclusion of”:

Did she accept your explanation for the overpayment?

We completed everything except the two proposals for Acme, Inc.

A.D. and B.C. A.D. stands for the Latin anno Domini (in the year of the Lord). Using A.D. is simple—place it before a year and after a century:

Pope Julius II, whose fertile partnership with Michelangelo produced many fine works of art, reigned from A.D. 1503 to 1513.

Arabians borrowed coffee from the Abyssinians about the twelfth century A.D.

B.C. stands for “before Christ.” Using B.C. is also simple—place it after the year and after the century:

King Priam’s Troy fell near the end of the Bronze Age, around 1200 B.C.

The high point of ancient Greek civilization, the Periclean Age, was during the fifth century B.C.

Some writers, however, have qualms about using A.D. and B.C., which are connected to the birth of Jesus Christ. They use other systems, such as B.C.E. (before the common era) for B.C. or C.E. (common era) for A.D. and place them after the date.

adapt/adept/adopt. Adapt means “to adjust to a situation.” Adept means “skillful.” Adopt means “to put into practice or to borrow”:

Within a week she adapted to the new billing procedure.

She won the promotion because she was so adept at her job.

Just last year we adopted a new method for maintaining inventory.

adjacent/contiguous/conterminous. Adjacent is the most general word, usually meaning “close to and nearby” and only sometimes “sharing the same boundary”:

Burger King is adjacent to the Cottonwood Mall.

The adjacent lots were both owned by the same construction company.

Contiguous usually means “sharing the same boundary” even though it includes the notion of “adjacent” in most of its uses:

The two mining claims turned out to be contiguous once the survey was completed; the owners had originally believed that a strip of state land separated the claims.

Conterminous (also coterminous) is the most specific of the terms and also the rarest. Its most distinctive meaning is “contained within one boundary” even though it also includes the senses of “sharing the same boundary” and quite rarely of being “adjacent.” Its most distinctive use, however, is as follows:

The conterminous United States includes only 48 of the 50 states.

These three words are a problem because they share a common meaning: “close to or nearby each other.” At the same time, they each have more specific meanings, as illustrated. As with any confused words, writers should choose other phrasing if they wish to be as precise as possible:

better

Our two lots shared a common boundary on the north.

or with a different meaning

Our two lots fell entirely within the city boundary.

not

Our two lots were adjacent. (neither contiguous, nor conterminous)

adverse/averse. Adverse is an adjective meaning “unfavorable.” Averse is an adjective meaning “having a dislike or a distaste for something.” The two also contrast in how they are used in sentences. Averse appears only after the verb be or occasionally feel:

We studied the adverse data before making our decision to plug and abandon the well.

An adverse comment destroyed the negotiations.

The President was averse to cutting the Defense budget.

We felt averse to signing for such a large loan given the adverse economic forecasts.

advice/advise. Advice is a noun meaning “recommendations.” Advise is a verb meaning “to make a recommendation”:

My advice was to meet with the client about the service problem.

Did someone advise you to hire a lawyer?

affect/effect. Affect is usually a verb meaning “to change or influence.” Effect is usually a noun meaning “a result or consequence”:

Temperature variations will affect the test results.

The technician analyzed the effects of the new sample on the data.

NOTE: Affect can also be a noun meaning “the subjective impression of feeling or emotion,” and effect can also be a verb meaning “to bring about or cause”:

His strange affect (noun) caused the psychiatrist to sign the committal order.

The general manager’s directive effected (verb) an immediate restructuring of all senior staff operations.

aid/aide. Aid is both a verb meaning “to help” or “assist” and a noun meaning “the act of helping someone.” Aid, as a noun, also means “the person or group providing the assistance”:

He aided us by carrying furniture out of the burning building. (verb)

U.S. aid included three emergency evacuation flights. (noun)

A nursing aid helped to care for my hospitalized mother. (noun)

Aide is a noun meaning “a person who acts as an assistant,” especially in a military or governmental situation:

The admiral’s aide was in charge of all of the admiral’s appointments.

Aid and aide are frequently confused because of their similar meanings. Remember to limit aide to military or governmental contexts.

all right/alright. All right is the standard spelling; alright is an informal or nonstandard spelling and is not considered correct. Never use alright.

allusion/illusion/delusion. Allusion means “a reference to something.” Illusion means “a mistaken impression.” Delusion means “a false belief”:

His allusion to Japanese management techniques was not well received, but he made his point.

Like the old magician’s illusions of the floating lady, the bank manager created an illusion of solvency that fooled even seasoned investors.

The patient had delusions about being watched by the FBI.

alternate/alternative. Confusion comes from competing adjective uses. Alternate as an adjective means “occurring in turns” or “every other one.” Alternative as an adjective means “allowing for a choice between two or more options”:

Winners were chosen from alternate lines rather than from a single line.

The alternative candidate was a clear compromise between the two parties.

Sometimes these two adjective meanings almost merge, especially when an alternative plan is viewed as a plan that replaces another:

An alternate/alternative plan provided for supplementary bank financing. (Either is correct.)

NOTE: Strict editors attempt to restrict alternative (in its noun and adjective uses) to only two options:

Life is the alternative to death.

Actual (correct) usage, however, has broadened alternative to include any number of options:

The planning commission analyzed five alternative sites. (or The planning commission analyzed five alternatives.)

altogether/all together. Altogether means “completely or entirely.” All together means “in a group”:

We had altogether too much trouble getting a simple answer to our question.

The spare parts lists are all together now and can be combined.

a.m./p.m./m. The abbreviations a.m., p.m., and m. sometimes appear in printed text with small caps: A.M., P.M., and M. In most word processing text, lowercase versions are preferred.

Use a.m. for times after midnight and before noon:

Use p.m. for times after noon and until midnight:

Noon remains a problem. Some guides continue to list 12 m. as noon. However, using m. (Latin for meridies) for noon with readers who do not know this abbreviation is unwise. They might well read m. as midnight. Noon and midnight will never be misunderstood; use them in place of 12 m, 12:00 a.m., and 12:00 p.m.:

The conference will be at noon on July 25.

among/between. Among refers to more than two choices. Between usually refers to two choices only, but it can refer to more than two:

We had difficulty deciding among the many options—over 200 colors.

The contracting officer has eliminated three bidders, so the Source Selection Authority must choose between us and Universal Data.

Strict editors do try to restrict between to two choices only. But occasionally, you can use between instead of among, especially where among would not sound right:

The research group analyzed the differences between the five alternatives.

See PREPOSITIONS.

and/or, or, and. Avoid using and/or. This term is usually difficult and sometimes impossible to read with surety. See SLASHES.

In one court case, three judges ruled three different ways as to the meaning of and/or. Courts in different cases have ruled that and means or, and that or means and. Be careful when using these three troublesome words. See CONJUNCTIONS.

Try to avoid using and/or. If you do use it, make sure that the situation you describe has at least three possibilities:

The road will be made of sand and/or gravel.

This road could be (1) an all-sand road (2) an all-gravel road, or (3) a road made from both sand and gravel.

You can make reading even more difficult by adding other possibilities:

The road will be made from asphalt, concrete, sand, and/or gravel.

The road now has far more construction combinations. Rather than using the shorthand and/or, change the sentence to explain to your readers your exact meaning:

The road will be made from asphalt, concrete, sand, and gravel. (Implies a combination of all four—with the percent composition variable.)

The road will have an asphalt and concrete surface, with fill being a mixture of sand and gravel. (More specific and less ambiguous.)

Or has two meanings: inclusive and exclusive. For the most precise use of this word, use only the exclusive meaning:

Use the blue pen or the black pen.

Use either the blue pen or the black pen.

Do not use or in its inclusive sense:

Limestone or calcium carbonate is used to neutralize the effects of acid rain.

Readers who do not know that limestone is calcium carbonate might think that two substances can be used. They cannot tell whether or is being used in its inclusive or its exclusive sense. See CONJUNCTIONS.

Readers who know that limestone is calcium carbonate know that or is being used in its inclusive sense, but these knowledgeable readers do not need the reminder that limestone is calcium carbonate.

Write the sentence, eliminating or and using parentheses:

Limestone (calcium carbonate) is used to neutralize the effects of acid rain.

See PARENTHESES.

ante–/anti–. Ante– is a prefix meaning “comes before” as in antebellum (“coming before a war”) or antedate (“coming before a specified date”). Anti– is also a prefix, but with the meaning of “in opposition or against” as in antiacademic or antismoking. Occasionally anti appears as a word, not as a prefix:

He turned out to be anti to our proposal.

anyone/any one. Anyone means “any person.” Any one means “a specific person or object”:

Anyone who wants a copy of the Camdus report should receive one.

We were supposed to eliminate any one of the potential mine sites.

appraise/apprise. Appraise is a verb meaning “to give the value or worth of something.” Apprise is a verb meaning “to tell or notify”:

Before the auction, the auto was appraised for over $100,000.

The defendant’s lawyer apprised the court that the defendant had been declared bankrupt a year earlier.

as regards. See in regard to/as regards/in regards to.

assure/insure/ensure. All three words mean “to make certain or to guarantee.” Assure is limited to references with people:

The doctor assured him that the growth was nonmalignant.

Insure is used in discussing financial guarantees:

His life was insured for $150,000.

The company failed to insure the leased automobile.

Much of the time, insure and ensure are confusingly interchangeable. For example, in one Federal document in the late 1970s, insure and ensure both appeared numerous times with the same meaning; chance seems to have guided which spelling appeared in which sentence. To try to end such confusion, the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual (March 1984) defines insure as “protect” and ensure as “guarantee”:

Your life insurance will insure (protect) your family from financial ruin.

To ensure (guarantee) that the drill bit does not overheat as it penetrates through the rock layer, keep the drilling fluid flowing at a maximum rate.

Reality suggests that despite such tidy distinctions, insure and ensure will continue to be confused. Try, however, to be consistent within a single document by choosing insure or ensure and then sticking with your choice.

bad/badly. Bad is primarily used as an adjective, but in informal English it is also an adverb. Badly is an adverb. Now, however, badly has begun to function in a few sentences the same way bad has. This overlap is a problem when you use the verbs of the senses (feel, look, smell, etc.):

Originally and currently acceptable

Harold felt bad (adjective) all day from the blow on his head.

The machine worked badly (adverb) despite the overhaul.

or

The machine worked bad (adverb) despite the overhaul.

Currently acceptable

Harold felt badly all day from the blow on his head.

NOTE: Only the verb feel allows for either bad or badly, as in the preceding sentence. Other confusions between the adjective (bad) and the adverb (badly) are not acceptable, especially in written English:

Not acceptable

He looked badly after the bachelor party. (correct form: bad)

The lab smelled badly after the drainage samples arrived. (correct form: bad)

B.C. See A.D. and B.C.

between. See among/between.

biannually/biennially. Biannually means “two times a year.” Biennially means “every 2 years”:

Because we meet biannually, we will have 10 meetings over the next 5 years.

Our long-range planning committee meets biennially—on even-numbered years.

bimonthly/semimonthly. Bimonthly can mean either “every 2 months” or “twice a month.” Semimonthly means “twice a month.” Because of the potential confusion surrounding bimonthly, you should avoid the word and write every 2 months or twice a month. Semimonthly has only one meaning and should not be confusing. Still, it has suffered from the ambiguity of bimonthly:

Our bimonthly newsletter appears in January, March, May, July, September, and November. (better: Our newsletter appears every 2 months, beginning in January.)

We proposed semimonthly meetings of the legislative committee. (better: We proposed meetings twice a month of the legislative committee.)

can/may. Can means (1) “ability,” (2) “permission,” and (3) “theoretical possibility.” May means (1) “permission” and (2) “possibility”:

Ability

She can speak German, but she can’t write it very well.

Permission

Can I help you with your project?

May I help you with your project?

NOTE: May sounds more formal than can, so if you wish to sound formal, use may.

Possibility

George can make mistakes if he’s rushed. (or may)

The project can be stopped if necessary. (or may)

The trail may be blocked, but we won’t know until later.

Your objection may be reasonable, but we still don’t agree.

capital/capitol. Capital means “the central city or site of government,” “invested money,” and “an uppercase letter.” Capitol means “the main government building”:

Paris is the capital of France.

The necessary capital for such an elegant restaurant is $1.5 million, but I doubt that investors will put up that much.

THIS SENTENCE IS WRITTEN IN CAPITALS.

The legislature authorized a complete renovation of the capitol dome.

carat/caret/karat. Carat means “the weight of a gem.” Caret means “a mark showing an insertion.” Karat means “a unit for the purity of gold”:

The ring had a 2.2-carat diamond.

I’ve used a caret to indicate where to insert the new sentence.

The ring is made of 18-karat gold.

cite/sight/site. Cite means “to quote.” Sight means “vision.” Site means “a location”:

During the trial, our attorney cited earlier testimony.

Most of the tunnel was out of sight, so we could not estimate the extent of the damage.

The contractor prepared the site by bulldozing all the brush off to the side.

complement/compliment. Complement means “completing or supplementing something.”

Compliment means “an expression of praise”:

The report’s recommendations complement those made by the executive committee last year.

The manager passed on a compliment from the vice president, who was impressed with the proposal team’s efforts.

comprise/compose. Strict editors carefully distinguish between these two words—that is, comprise means “to include or contain” and compose means “to make up from many parts”:

The U.S. Congress comprises the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House of Representatives and the Senate compose the U.S. Congress.

Such sentences, especially those with comprise, are beginning to sound stiff and overly formal, and passive alternatives are more and more common, although not accepted by all editors:

The U.S. Congress is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

As with other disputed word uses, choose an alternate version whenever possible:

The House of Representatives and the Senate constitute the U.S. Congress.

concerning/worrying. Avoid using concerning as a synonym for worrying or alarming: “We find it concerning that the Web site has misled clients.” Use concerning as a synonym for about:

We contacted you in July concerning your overdue payment.

We find it worrying that the website has misled clients.

contiguous. See adjacent/contiguous/conterminous.

continual/continuous. Continual means “intermittent, but frequently repeated.” Continuous means “without interruption”:

Because the pipes are so old, continual leaks appear despite our repair efforts.

Because of a short in the wiring, the horn sounded continuously for 10 minutes.

contractions. Do not use contractions (don’t, couldn’t) in formal documents. However, when you want to create a personal tone, do use contractions in informal documents such as letters and memos:

John, don’t forget that you must finish this work by Tuesday; otherwise, Bill can’t get your figures into his report, which must be done for Vice President Stern by Thursday.

See STYLE and CONTRACTIONS.

council/counsel/consul. Council means “a group of people.” Counsel means “to advise” (verb), “advice” (noun) or “an attorney.” Consul means “a foreign representative”:

The safety council passed a motion to ban smoking in shaft elevators.

The consultant counseled us in ways to improve our management of ID team efforts.

His counsel was to rewrite the proposal.

MOGO’s counsel made the opening statement in the hearing.

The French consul helped us obtain an import license.

councilor/counselor. Councilor means “a member of council.” Counselor is “an advisor or lawyer”:

The councilors decided to table the motion until the next meeting.

Our staff medical counselor has a PhD in clinical psychology.

could. See would/probably would/could/might/should.

credible/creditable/credulous. Credible means “believable.” Creditable means “praiseworthy.” Credulous means “gullible”:

His revised report was more credible, chiefly because the manpower estimates were scaled to match the price.

In spite of some short cuts, the proposal team wrote a creditable proposal; in fact, they won the contract.

He was so credulous that anyone could fool him.

data. Data (the plural of datum) is now often used as both the singular and plural forms of the word. In some technical and scientific writing, however, data is still traditionally plural only. If the convention in your discipline or organization is to use data as a plural, then be sure that your sentences reflect correct agreement of subject and verb:

Our production data are being examined by the EPA because a citizen complained about excessive emissions from our plant.

The data have been difficult to analyze, chiefly because of sloppy recordkeeping.

These sentences may sound strange or awkward to many readers. Consequently, some technical writers avoid phrasing that calls attention to the plural meaning of data. The two sentences above, for instance, could read as follows:

EPA is examining our production data because a citizen complained about excessive emissions from our plant.

We found the data difficult to analyze, chiefly because of the sloppy recordkeeping.

delusion. See allusion/illusion/delusion.

different from/different than. These two forms can and should be used interchangeably. Strict editors, however, may insist that different from is somehow better than different than. Actually, well-educated writers and many editors have used both forms for well over 300 years. The argument over these two forms is an example of a preference being mistaken for a rule. In fact, no clear distinction between the two forms has ever existed:

The results were far different from those we expected. (or different than)

The study is different than we had been led to expect. (or different from the one we had been led to expect)

disburse/disperse. Disburse is the verb meaning “to pay out.” Disperse is the verb meaning “to scatter”:

The payroll clerk disburses the petty cash funds as needed.

The reserved top soil was dispersed over the site after the project was completed.

discreet/discrete. Discreet means “tactful or prudent.” Discrete means “separate or individual”:

The counselor was so discreet that no one learned we had been meeting with him.

The testing included three discrete samples of the ore body.

disinterested/uninterested. Originally, disinterested meant “neutral or unbiased,” and uninterested meant “without interest.” Careful writers and editors still maintain this distinction:

The judge was appointed because he was clearly disinterested in the dispute.

The President was so uninterested in the problem that he failed to act.

effect. See affect/effect.

e.g./i.e. Both e.g. and i.e. are Latin abbreviations. Most of the time avoid them and use the equivalent English phrases.

E.g. is the abbreviation for exempli gratia, meaning “free examples.” I.e. is the abbreviation for id est, meaning “that is.” The two have similar, but still slightly different uses:

Many appliances (e.g., clothes washers, dryers, and dishwashers) are so common that they have been standard in all new homes. (The list consists of several free examples.)

Most first-time house buyers should be aware of this one principle, i.e., let the buyer beware. (I.e. introduces a restatement of an idea, not a list of examples.)

In the preceding examples, for example could replace e.g. in the first sentence. A simple that is could replace i.e. in the second sentence. Use the English versions unless you are writing for a publication that prefers e.g. and i.e.

Both abbreviations use periods in the U.S. style: e.g. and i.e. In British English, the periods usually are not used, with no space between the letters: eg and ie. Notice also that both abbreviations are enclosed in commas or by another mark of punctuation. See BRITISH ENGLISH.

elapse/lapse. Elapse is a verb meaning “to pass by or to slip”; it usually refers to time. Lapse is a verb with many meanings, most derived from the sense of “to drift, to discontinue, or to terminate”:

Two weeks elapsed before we heard from the Internal Revenue Service.

The speaker lapsed into silence after the embarrassing question.

Our contract lapsed before we could negotiate its renewal.

emigrate/immigrate and emigration/immigration. Emigrate (verb) means “to leave one’s home or residence—to go out.” Immigrate (verb) is the opposite: “to come into a town or country.”

Peter and his family emigrated from Poland over 10 years ago.

When he first immigrated into the United Sates, he had difficulty finding work as a doctor because of his poor English skills.

The similar distinction holds for the two parallel nouns: emigration/immigration. The only difference is in the point of view:

Over 10,000 emigrants left Haiti last year for the United States.

The U.S. policy on Haitian immigrants is becoming increasingly restrictive.

eminent/imminent. Eminent means “outstanding or prestigious.” Imminent means “impending or soon to happen”:

Only eminent researchers will win Nobel Prizes.

The dam’s collapse was imminent, so we evacuated downstream communities.

ensure. See assure/insure/ensure.

envelop/envelope. Envelop is the verb meaning “to enclose or to encase.” Envelope is the noun meaning “something that contains or encloses”:

They proposed to envelop the storage tank with the fire-retardant foam.

We placed in the envelope both the final report and the backup surveys.

etc. Avoid using etc. in most of your writing. Etc. is the abbreviation for et cetera, which is Latin for “other items or persons of the same sort”:

She wrote letters to many governmental figures: the President, Secretary of Defense, Army Chief of Staff, her senator, etc.

As in the preceding sentence, we can only guess about how many people received a letter from her. The use of etc. is usually an evasion of the responsibility for listing all the exact facts or details. So avoid using etc. in most business or technical writing.

except. See accept/except.

extemporaneous/impromptu. These two words are widely confused, and even some dictionaries have definitions of them that overlap. Extemporaneous, especially among speech teachers, means “a speech that is carefully planned and practiced, but not memorized.” So its delivery is an extemporaneous action. The common meaning, however, is closer to impromptu, as defined below.

Impromptu means that “something that arises without notice or preparation.” So an impromptu speech is made without practice or preparation.

As with many confused words, either avoid the two words or use them in contexts where their meanings will be clear:

During his tour of the plant, the President unexpectedly asked one of the workers to answer impromptu questions from reporters.

President Clinton is an excellent extemporaneous speaker, as illustrated when his teleprompter broke and he didn’t have a printed copy of his speech. He still delivered a good speech.

farther/further. As far back as Shakespeare these words have been confused, and in some contexts they are clearly interchangeable—e.g., farther/further from the truth.

Strict editors still maintain that farther should be restricted to senses involving distance, while further includes other senses:

The assembly site was farther from the testing area than we wished.

A further consideration was the inflation during those years.

fewer/less. Fewer, the comparative form of few, usually refers to things that can be counted. Less, one comparative form of little, refers to mass items, such as sugar or salt, which cannot be counted, and to abstractions:

We analyzed fewer well sites than the government wanted us to analyze.

Less sodium chloride in the water meant that we had fewer problems with corrosion.

Fewer teachers, less education.

See NOUNS and ADJECTIVES.

flammable/inflammable. Avoid using inflammable because it has two contradictory meanings: “able to burn” and “not able to burn.” Dictionaries usually list the first of these two meanings as the proper one, but the other meaning is too common to ignore. These two meanings arise from two different interpretations of the prefix in–; one means “not” while the other signals a “presence or possible” (as in “a flame is present”). So never use inflammable, but use not flammable or nonflammable or other phrases:

The pajamas are nonflammable at temperatures up to 240 °F. (not “are inflammable”)

These treated roofing shingles will not catch fire even if glowing coals land on them from a nearby fire. (or nonflammable)

Flammable means “able to burn,” or “burns easily,” so using it is no problem:

Even the fumes from a gasoline can be flammable.

forward/foreword. Forward is an adjective and an adverb, both meaning “at or near the front.” Foreword is the noun meaning “the introduction to a book”:

The hopper moves forward when the drying phase is nearly finished.

The foreword to the book was two pages long.

he/she, s/he, (s)he. Avoid these created new words. If possible, recast your sentence so that it is plural:

this

All engineers must bring their reports to the meeting. (plural)

All new employees should complete the health forms before beginning work. If they have not done so, their insurance will not be in effect.

not this

Every engineer must bring his/her report to the meeting. (singular)

Each new employee must complete the health forms before beginning work. If (s)he has not done so, his/her insurance will not be in effect.

These newly coined words, which have not been widely accepted, are attempts to create a singular pronoun other than the word it because it in many sentences is too odd and too impersonal to refer to people. See BIAS-FREE LANGUAGE and AGREEMENT.

i.e. See e.g./i.e.

illusion. See allusion/illusion/delusion.

immigrate. See emigrate/immigrate.

imminent. See eminent/imminent.

imply/infer. Imply means “to suggest or hint.” Infer means “to draw a conclusion or to deduce”:

The report implies that the break-even point may be difficult to reach, but it fails to give supporting data.

Based on our comments, she inferred that we would not give our wholehearted support to her project.

impromptu. See extemporaneous/impromptu.

infinitives. See split infinitives.

inflammable. See flammable/inflammable.

in regard to/as regards/in regards to. The first two forms are acceptable. By convention, the third form (in regards to) is unacceptable. Do not use in regards to.

In regard to your report, our firm is still busy analyzing it.

As regards your second question, we have taken all of the steps necessary to acquire mineral rights on the Bruneau lease.

A better choice in most sentences is to use the shorter and simpler regarding:

Regarding your second question, we have taken all of the steps necessary to acquire mineral rights on the Bruneau lease.

insure. See assure/insure/ensure.

irregardless/regardless. Irregardless is an unacceptable version of regardless. Do not use irregardless in either speech or writing:

We decided to fund the project regardless of the cash flow problems we were having.

its/it’s. Its is the possessive pronoun. It’s is the contraction for it is:

Its last section was unclear and probably inaccurate.

It’s time for the annual turnaround maintenance check.

See PRONOUNS.

karat. See carat/caret/karat.

lapse. See elapse/lapse.

later/latter. Later, the comparative form of late, means “coming after something else.” Latter is an adjective meaning “the second of two objects or persons”:

Later in the evening a fire broke out.

In our analysis of the Lankford and Nipon sites, we finally decided that the latter site was preferable.

NOTE: Latter (and its parallel former) are sometimes confusing, so rewrite to avoid them:

We finally decided that the Nipon site was preferable to the Lankford site.

lay/laid/laid. These three words are the principal parts of the verb lay. The verb itself means “to put or to place.” It must have an object:

The contractor promised to lay the sod before the fall rains began. (object: sod)

The manager laid his plan before his colleagues. (object: plan)

Our recent talks with the Russians have laid the groundwork for control of nuclear weapons in space. (object: groundwork)

less. See fewer/less.

lie/lay/lain. These three forms are the principal parts of the verb lie. Lie means “to rest or recline.” In contrast with lay, lie cannot have an object:

The main plant entrance lies south of the personnel building.

The new access road lay on the bench above the floodplain.

That supply has lain there for over a decade.

loose/lose. Loose is an adjective meaning “unrestrained” or “insecurely fastened.” Lose is a verb meaning “to suffer loss”:

The mechanical feeder arm rattles because of loose stabilizer rings.

We can’t afford to lose the Pristin deal if we’re going to meet this year’s revenue goal.

marital/martial. These two are confused because they look similar and can, on occasion, be mispronounced.

Marital refers to “marriage or its conditions.” Martial refers to “war or warriors.” So their uses are distinctly separate:

The marital agreement established a not-to-exceed alimony amount.

The martial sound of drums and bagpipes encouraged the Scottish soldiers to fight and, supposedly, frightened their enemies.

may. See can/may.

maybe/may be. Maybe is the adverb meaning “perhaps.” May be is a verb form meaning “possibility”:

Maybe we should analyze the impacts before going ahead with the project.

Whatever happens may be beyond our control, especially if inflation is unchecked.

might. See would/probably would/could/might/should.

or. See and/or, or, and.

p.m. See a.m./p.m./m.

practical/practicable. These two words mean much the same thing, and dictionaries disagree on their distinctions. Given this confusion, writers should stay with the common form practical and avoid practicable.

Strict editors do maintain that the difference between practical and practicable is similar to the difference between useful and possible. Practical means “not theoretical; useful, proven through practice.” Practicable means “capable of being practiced or put into action; feasible”:

Despite the uniqueness of the problem, the contractor developed a practical method for shoring up the foundation.

Although technically practicable, the solution was not practical because it would have put us over budget.

The last sentence says that we were technically capable of achieving the solution but that this solution was not feasible because of financial constraints.

Similarly, building a house on top of Mt. St. Helens is probably possible (it is practicable), but doing so is not feasible (it is not practical) for obvious reasons.

precede/proceed. Precede means “to go ahead of or in front of,” so it implies an order or sequence of some kind. Proceed simply means “start” or “go on.” The two are probably confused because they have similar spellings.

A dentist’s deadening the nerve should precede any drilling or other painful processes.

The guide proceeded carefully along the bank because the wet soil seemed unstable.

Occasionally proceeding appears in a sentence where preceding is the correct form:

The preceding speaker ran over her allotted time, so we got off schedule. (not the proceeding speaker)

precedence/precedents. Precedence is the noun meaning “an established priority.” Precedents is the plural form of the noun meaning “an example or instance, as in a legal case”:

The Robbins account should take precedence over the Jackson account; after all, Robbins gives us over 50 percent of our business.

The Brown decision was the precedent for many later decisions involving racial issues and education.

principal/principle. Principal is a noun or adjective meaning “main or chief.” Principle is a noun meaning “belief, moral standard, or law governing the operation of something”:

The principal technical problems we faced were simply beyond current technologies.

The principles of electricity explain the voltage drop in lines.

If we act according to our principles, we will not allow the transaction to proceed.

NOTE: Some writers are confused by principal because it also means “the head of a school” and “the money borrowed from a bank.” These are noun forms of a word that used to be only an adjective. The noun forms of principal come from noun phrases: the principal teacher and the principal amount. Over time, the nouns teacher and amount were dropped, and principal assumed the full meaning of the original phrases. Now, principal is a noun as well as an adjective.

probably would. See would/probably would/could/might/should.

raise/raised/raised. These three forms are the principal parts of the verb raise. Raise means “to move (something) upward.” Raise always requires an object:

They will raise the funds by January 1, 2010. (object: funds)

We raised the water level some 20 feet to accommodate the changing use patterns. (object: water level)

They had raised the amount to cover the travel costs. (object: amount)

rational/rationale. Rational is an adjective meaning “logical or well thought out.” Rationale is a noun meaning “the supporting facts or proof.” Confusion arises because the two words are so similar in their spelling.

The business team followed a rational seven-step process for evaluating each potential site for the new plant.

His rationale for selling the franchise rested more with his time constraints than with financial considerations.

regardless. See irregardless/regardless.

respectfully/respectively. Respectfully means “with deference and courtesy.” Respectively means “in the sequence named”:

Our representatives were not treated very respectfully.

According to production data for March, May, July, and September, the number of cases were, respectively, 868, 799, 589, and 803.

NOTE: Respectively often makes sentences difficult to interpret, so avoid respectively whenever you can.

rise/rose/risen. These three forms are the principal parts of the verb rise. Rise means “to stand up or move upward.” Rise does not take an object:

The balloon rises (or will rise) once the air heats up.

Because the water rose, we had to evacuate the ground floor.

The moisture level in the gas has risen substantially over the last week.

said. The word said often becomes a shorthand term for a document or item previously mentioned:

We have examined said plans and can find no provisions for the clay soils on the site.

Such uses of said are not appropriate in normal business and technical writing. Only in legal writing (and maybe not even there) should writers ever use said in this way. The above sentence could be rewritten as follows:

We have examined the plans and can find no provisions for the clay soils on the site. (Readers will usually know from the context what plans the writer is referring to.)

semimonthly. See bimonthly/semimonthly.

set/set/set. These three forms are the principal parts of the verb set. Set means “to put or to place (something).” Set must have an object:

They set the surveying equipment in the back of the truck. (object: equipment)

Yesterday we set up the derrick so that drilling could start at the beginning of today’s shift. (object: derrick)

After we had set the flow, we began to monitor fluctuations from changes in pressure. (object: flow)

shall/will. Use will for the simple future with all of the personal pronouns:

I/We will leave.

You will leave.

He/She/It/They will leave.

Shall is rarely used for simple future, at least in American English, but it does retain some sense of extra obligation or force, as in legal contexts:

The vendor shall provide 24-hour security at the site.

Shall (or should) is also used for some questions:

Shall/Should I stop by your office tomorrow?

Shall/Should I sign the document now?

Neither will nor would can replace shall/should in these questions.

Some grammarians, beginning in the seventeenth century, formulated a supposed rule for shall and will: For simple future, use shall with I and we; will with he, she, it, and they. For obligation and permission, reverse the choices: will with I and we; shall with he, she, it, and they.

This rule was not accurate in the seventeenth century, and it has never been true of actual English sentences. British English does use shall somewhat more frequently for the simple future than American English, but even in England, the seventeenth-century rule is not consistently followed.

she. See he/she, s/he, (s)he.

should. See would/probably would/could/might/should.

sic. Sic, from the Latin, means “thus.” Use sic when you are quoting something and want to show that, yes, I have copied this ungrammatical or odd language as it was originally written or spoken:

The computer experts in their memorandum stated: “We took for granite [sic] that everyone knew about their [sic] weekend changes to the system.”

The stationary [sic] bus was coming from the opposite direction.

Do not use sic to embarrass someone by highlighting harmless mistakes, which we all make.

sight/site. See cite/sight/site.

sit/sat/sat. These three forms are the principal parts of the verb sit. Sit means “to rest or to recline.” Sit does not take an object:

The well sits at the foot of a steep cliff.

The committee sat through the long session with very few complaints.

The oil drums must have sat on the loading dock all weekend.

split infinitives. Many people who often can’t even recognize a split infinitive still believe a split infinitive is a grammatical crime. Perhaps because of its memorable name, a split infinitive has become part of the folklore about what good writers should avoid.

Actually, split infinitives have been acceptable in English for hundreds of years. Only in fairly recent times have editors even worried whether sentences like the following should be accepted because they contain split infinitives:

The company’s goal was to rapidly retire its investment debt before moving into new markets.

To totally avoid splitting infinitives, the writer decided to eliminate all infinitives from the document.

In the first of these examples, rephrasing to move rapidly before or after the infinitive to retire is easy: rapidly to retire or to retire rapidly. Strict editors would choose one of these rephrasings and thus eliminate the split infinitive, but the sentence is actually correct with or without the split infinitive.

In the second example, however, moving totally behind the infinitive to avoid changes the sentence:

To avoid totally splitting infinitives, the writer decided to eliminate all infinitives from the document. (Is the splitting being done totally or does totally continue to modify avoid?)

In this second example, a writer would have to either retain the split infinitive or recast the entire sentence.

To conclude, split infinitives are not worth worrying about. Leave them in your document when the context seems to require a split infinitive.

stationary/stationery. Stationary is an adjective meaning “fixed in one spot, unmoving.” Stationery is a noun meaning “paper for writing on”:

Because the boiler was bolted to the floor, it remained stationary despite the vibration.

The new letterhead on our stationery made our company seem more up to date.

than/then. Than is used in comparisons. Then is an adverb meaning “at that time”:

George’s report was shorter than Mary’s.

We then decided to analyze the trace minerals in the water samples.

that/which. After centuries of competition (and confusion), the two words continue to be often interchangeable:

The connecting rod that failed delayed us for two days.

or

The connecting rod which failed delayed us for two days.

In both of these correct sentences, the clauses that failed and which failed identify which specific rod—that is, the rod that failed, not the other rods. So these clauses are both identifying (restricting) the meaning. As in these two sentences, the restrictive clause is not set off by commas. When that and which introduce restrictive clauses, the choice between them is merely stylistic—that is, choose the one that sounds the best.

Which is the proper choice, however, for nonrestrictive clauses:

The Evans report, which took us several months to finish, is beginning to attract attention.

The U.S. Senate, which many consider the most exclusive club in the world, does follow some quaint rules of decorum.

In both of these examples, the which clauses provide additional but unnecessary information about the Evans report and the Senate. Both which clauses are thus nonrestrictive because neither helps to identify the report or the Senate. An informal test is if the which clauses were deleted, the basic meaning of each sentence would not change. Note, also, that such nonrestrictive clauses are enclosed with commas. See COMMAS.

Strict editors argue that because which is clearly the choice to introduce nonrestrictive clauses, that should be used for all restrictive clauses. The tidy distinction is not true of spoken English, and many careful writers continue to use that and which interchangeably for restrictive clauses.

This is another case where a supposed rule (actually part of a rule) is best ignored. To summarize, use either that or which to introduce restrictive clauses (with no enclosing commas). Use which for nonrestrictive clauses (with enclosing commas).

their/there/they’re. Their is a possessive pronoun. There is an adverb meaning “at that place.” They’re is the contraction for they are:

The engineers turned in their reports for printing.

The well site was there along the base of the plateau.

They’re likely to object if we try to include those extra expenses in the invoice.

to/too/two. To is the preposition or infinitive marker. Too is both an adverb meaning “excessively” and a conjunctive adverb meaning “also.” Two is the numeral:

The proposal went to the Department of the Interior for approval.

She wants to revise the proposal.

The design was too costly considering our budget. (too = excessively)

The issue, too, was that technology is only now beginning to cope with these low-temperature problems. (too = also)

toward/towards. Toward and towards are merely different forms of the same word. Toward is the preferred form in American English. In British English, towards is more common than toward.

uninterested. See disinterested/uninterested.

which. See that/which.

while. While is best used as only a time word to show simultaneity—“at the same time as another event”:

While the wash water flows over the screening plates, measure the water’s temperature.

Check the level of the car’s transmission fluid while the engine is running.

In other instances, while can mean “though,” “although,” “even though,” “but,” or “and.” These meanings are particularly common in spoken English. In written English, however, replace while with its equivalent word:

this

Although windmills are economical, they are too often destroyed by severe storms, and in calm weather, they produce no electrical power.

At some places the coal layer is 4 feet wide, but at other places it narrows to 10 inches.

not this

While windmills are economical, they are too often destroyed by severe storms, while in calm weather, they produce no electrical power.

At some places the coal layer is 4 feet wide, while at other places it narrows to 10 inches.

who/whom. See the discussion of interrogative and relative pronouns in PRONOUNS.

who’s/whose. Who’s is the contraction for who is. Whose is the possessive form of the pronoun who:

Who’s the contractor for the site preparation work?

She was the supervisor whose workers had all that overtime.

will. See shall/will.

would/probably would/could/might/should. Today these words are usually used as one form of the subjunctive mood, stating future probability. Long ago, would and could were used as past tense verbs.

These words, except for would, never convey an exact probability. The context in which these words are used gives the reader a sense of the probability:

• Would = certain, 100 percent

If we were to drill the well, we would get 100 barrels of oil per day.

• Probably would = very high, 80 percent

If we were to drill the well, we probably would get 100 barrels of oil per day.

• Could = reasonably high, 50 percent

If we were to drill the well, we could get 100 barrels of oil per day.

• Might = moderate, 30 percent

If we were to drill the well, we might get 100 barrels of oil per day.

Do not use should for “high probability.” Use should in its principal meaning—“an ethical or moral obligation”:

You should not allow your graph to have an appearance of precision greater than your data allow.

This final part of the president’s speech should not be quoted out of context.

See the discussion of subjunctives in VERBS.

your/you’re. Your is the possessive form of you. You’re is the contraction for you are:

Your letter arrived too late for us to adjust the original invoice.

If you’re interested, we can survey the production history of that sand over the last decade or so.

See PRONOUNS.

Word Processing

Word processing is the writing, editing, sharing, and printing of documents using computers, networks, and printers. Word processing allows the writer or editor to experiment freely with different formats and to revise and edit the text easily.

Word-processing software includes many helpful features that users often fail to benefit from.

Templates. Predefined formats for many purposes, from legal contracts to engineering reports to memorandums and resumes. You can also turn documents into PDF (portable document format) files for sharing on the Internet.

Styles. Predefined styles for headings, margins, fonts, column width, tabs, boxes, italics, boldface, headers and footers, and graphics. You can select styles to apply to each section and subsection of your document and then apply them automatically.

Graphics. Predefined charts, graphs, tables, clip art, and shapes for virtually any purpose, including custom drawing tools.

Version Tracking. Options for tracking, accepting, and rejecting changes as you go through various versions of a document.

Media Connections. Options for file sharing and emailing; embedding links, videos, graphics, and spreadsheets from “cloud” (i.e., Internet) sources.

Word processing has become a nearly universal skill in the 21^st-century workplace. The options and features available to writers are increasing daily, expanding exponentially their power to communicate via email, blogs, instant messaging, ebooks, and streaming content. Additionally, with the rise of open-source word-processing applications, some of which are free of charge, writers have many more choices than ever before.

However, the flexibility and power of word processing can be a trap. Clients or supervisors begin to believe that everything can be created, changed, and made better in no time. They believe the tools have made writing easy, and they certainly have made it easier; but it is still time-consuming and often frustrating to the person doing the writing when others have unreasonable expectations. In the workplace, efficient word processing means knowing when the document is okay as it is—when it will do the job and enough changes are enough!

Although word processing makes writing much faster and easier than ever before, writing is still a mystery. Even the computer cannot reveal just how someone comes up with a particular organization or a certain train of logical thought. Some writers still need to sit down with a notepad and a favorite pen in order to work.

The following rules are suggestions about how to write using word processing. You need to ask yourself what works for you and what doesn’t. You might still need, for example, to plan on paper before turning to the keyboard. Or you might decide that you can only edit or proofread effectively if you have a hard (printed) copy in front of you.

As you write using word processing, test the following suggestions. Be alert for shortcuts. See also WRITING AND REVISING.

1. Save your work on a backup disk.

Remember that the computer’s memory is temporary and may vanish when (not if) the hardware or software fails. Therefore, the cardinal rule of word processing is to save to a backup disk. An associated rule is to keep your security program up to date. Nothing is more distressing than to watch your hard work on a document vanish or become corrupted because of a computer virus.

2. Save your work using intelligible file names.

Name your files so that material saved will be accessible to you or a colleague days, weeks, even months later.

Electronic word-processing files are similar to the files in a filing cabinet. Well-organized, clean files are a pleasure to work with; messy, chaotic files are a disaster.

Each word-processing file should have its own name (code), including, as appropriate, alphabetical or numerical indications of its subject, its writer, and the version saved. For example, you might choose to label a file on travel expenses with the abbreviation travex. If different writers work on the same subject, you could add the writer’s initials: travexbe.

Your software program will indicate the date and time when the file was last opened, but this information might not always help you, especially if you have multiple versions of the same document with the same title. After all, you may have opened an early version of a document while you were trying to find the current version; this early version will automatically carry the most recent date. Consider, therefore, some system for identifying the version or draft—A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3, etc.

File Names for a Team Document. File names are crucial if a number of writers and editors are working as a team on a document. Teams usually share electronic drafts for review and revision. The more sharing, the more a recent revision is likely to be lost or replaced with an earlier version.

Also, agree as a team on how to manage access to the files. Consider privacy issues and the problems of handling client and proprietary information. Decide beforehand who will know passwords and have access privileges.

3. Decide on a format for your document before you begin writing.

The simplest format is usually the one that is already set for you by your software program. This basic format will have certain standards (default settings)—for example, default margins, typeface, and tabs. Use this format for routine documents or change the default settings to reflect your own or your company’s standards and preferences. These changes will become the default settings.

Still, the needs of your audience or your purpose might require a different format—such as wider margins, two-column format, different font, etc. Word-processing software allows you to program such style variations so they become automatic. See PAGE LAYOUT.

You can also develop templates of your own with special styles to use whenever you prepare a standard document such as a proposal, newsletter, marketing flyer, etc. Preparing a template for each type of document will allow you to begin writing immediately without having to worry about the styles you used last time.

Consider also creating a primary or boilerplate file with merge codes for regularly used documents instead of generating a new document each time. A primary or boilerplate file is a standardized document or preset form (e.g., memo, sales letter, proposal, customer service letter, invoice, manual, procedure, report) that you change or update frequently. To update such a file, you create a secondary or merge file attaching the same merge codes used in your primary to the new information. These codes permit you to jump immediately to your preselected points of insertion (names, addresses, dates, particular responses or new text, personalized closings).

Format Decisions for a Team. If a team is working on a document, the earlier the team members can agree on a format, the more efficient will be the writing.

A simple team technique is to develop a single template for everyone to use. A template enables you to decide together on margins, spacing, fonts, etc., and special features (boxes for visuals, shaded quotations, etc.). See PAGE LAYOUT for guidance on selecting styles.

4. Plan your document before you begin to write (input).

Planning is important to avoid false starts or dead ends. Try to identify a few of the givens about the document before you begin to write.

Do you have your task or assignment clearly in mind?

• What is your main purpose?

• What do you want your readers to do, to know, and to feel?

• Who will read your document and what are their goals and priorities?

• What sort of document (length, format, content) do you expect to write?

These and similar questions will surely be in the back of your mind as you are writing. Do you need to write them down before beginning—perhaps on a notepad or on a whiteboard?

Will writing down some of these givens help you focus your efforts? Do what you must to make your writing as efficient as possible. See WRITING AND REVISING.

5. Brainstorm your content.

Your computer can be a valuable brainstorming tool. Don’t be afraid of writing down something you feel is stupid or something that you think won’t fit. After all, you can move ideas around at will, and you can later delete anything you don’t need with the touch of a key.

Experiment with a brainstorming phase before you actually begin to write the text—that is, before you try to write complete sentences and fleshed-out paragraphs.

Such a brainstorming phase might be a rapid inputting of key words and phrases without any order or sequence. Let your mind race as fast as it will, and don’t block even the dumb ideas. Don’t worry about spelling or punctuation. See THINKING STRATEGIES.

Brainstorming is most applicable to documents that are not regular and routine. For routine documents, you already know much of the content, and you may even have a format (template) to start with. See rule 3 above.

After you finish brainstorming, you have to choose what you want to do next. You might, for example, print a copy of your brainstorming and use it as a guide for writing your draft. Your software may even display your brainstorming notes in a window on the screen while you are writing your text.

6. Organize your content.

The more complex the document, the more you will need to organize your brainstorming notes.

This process might be merely a sequencing or tidying up of your brainstorming notes. Or you might decide to work up a fairly complete outline. Using the “sort” function, you can give instant structure to your notes.

Many word-processing programs have an outlining function. This function usually gives you a standard outline format to work with, and once you finish your outline, you can usually view the outline in a window on your screen while you are writing your text. See OUTLINES and ORGANIZATION.

If you have always liked to outline before writing, you will probably want to continue using an outline as part of word processing. If you never liked writing from an outline, you might want to move directly from your brainstorming notes to the writing of your draft.

7. Use word-processing techniques to simplify drafting your document.

Writing rough drafts used to be a more daunting task before word-processing software. Now you can write, tweak, move text around, insert, and delete ideas at any point in the writing process.

The computer can help you overcome “writer’s block.” If you write quickly, not trying to be perfect the first time, the computer can cut your writing time. You can also avoid anxiety about having something with errors, misspellings, and other “warts.”

Nevertheless, ease of editing on the computer means you will be tempted to rework sections or whole drafts before you finish writing the initial version.

Try not to allow such revision work to interrupt your thinking or cause you to forget ideas you should record.

Keep these things in mind while writing on a computer:

• Remember, you can always change text later, so avoid editing grammar, spelling, and punctuation before you have all your ideas on the screen.

• Make on-screen notes of ideas that occur to you but may not be relevant to the passage you’re working on. Some word-processing programs permit you to make “text notes” (i.e., text that is invisible to the printer but appears on-screen).

• Code or mark points in the text where missing data needs to be inserted or more work needs to be done. For example, you can insert a non-word symbol like < > or ~. Then with your SEARCH feature, you can tell the computer to search for places where this symbol appears.

Team Writing of a Draft. Recognize that rough drafting is not a group activity. Instead, assign each team member a section to write, and remind them of the style they should follow. See rule 3 above. When team members finish with their drafts, assign a single person to integrate the drafts so that the team can review the whole document.

8. Revise (edit) efficiently by setting priorities and sticking to them.

Take care of the big issues such as purpose, content, and emphasis before you begin to polish sentences and mold your paragraphs. See WRITING AND REVISING.

Proofreading comes last.

Setting priorities makes sense because it forces you to address the more global issues rather than spending too much time on trivial details when the document has failed to achieve its main purpose.

Revision (editing) begins when you reread what you’ve written. Decide, first, if you need to see the document in hard copy. If so, print a copy, preferably with double spacing and wide margins.

Next, review the whole document with these major questions in mind:

• Is my main purpose clear and upfront?

• Have I emphasized my key ideas?

• What else should I tell my readers?

• Is my tone and approach appropriate and effective?

After you have asked these hard questions (and fixed any problems), begin working on your paragraphs and sentences.

Here is where the computer is a boon. You can rewrite, move, or delete text so easily that you can experiment with different ways to say the same thing. For example, you might make a second copy of a paragraph and rewrite the copy. After rewriting, you can return to the original to see if you have improved it. Finally, you can delete the version you decide not to use.

To help with rewriting, consider using the thesaurus feature if you are stumped for an appropriate word or phrase.

Also, during rewriting, you might want to code words or phrases that you wish to appear in your index or in a table of contents. Then, when you finish editing, you can command your software to sort the words and phrases and to prepare the table of contents or the index. See INDEXES and TABLES OF CONTENTS.

Even with the ease of editing on the computer, you might still wish to edit and proofread a hard (printed) copy of a document instead of on a monitor. The monitor screen can prevent you from perceiving the overall organization and structure of a document—the “feel” of the document.

A Final Caution About Revision. No text is ever finished or perfect, at least in the minds of most writers. Word processing often lures writers into spending excessive time revising and polishing their drafts or including flashy graphics. The secret is to know when to quit revising.

Decide when the draft is adequate, even good, but not necessarily perfect, and then stop.

9. Use word-processing techniques to help you proofread your document.

Although the computer makes writing and especially editing much more flexible and easier than ever before, it also adds new possibilities for errors. The ease of changing things makes consistency of content, data, grammar, and spelling a major problem. See EDITING AND PROOFREADING.

Proofreading is essential after a writer has tinkered with a text for hours and hours because for every change the writer has made, probably 10 others should have been made for consistency with the single change.

Follow these general suggestions for proofreading on a computer:

• Proofread on the Screen. An advantage of the computer is that you don’t have to print a hard copy to proofread or to review your text. But even experienced editors have trouble proofreading using only the screen. The text is often too small, and it is sometimes awkward to check the document for overall consistency when you can see only a dozen or so lines of text at a time.

If you do proofread on the screen, consider changing the text to larger, more readable type and adjusting the line spacing to double spaces. Turn on paragraph marks and hidden formatting symbols. These changes will help you identify proofreading problems.

• Proofread a Hard Copy. Some people find it difficult to proofread on a screen because screens do not always show entire pages, and the visual resolution of characters on a screen is not always clear and sharp. Actually, reviewing a hard copy will give you a second chance to catch things you’ve already missed on the screen.

• Check for Consistency. When you change your text at some point, odd problems may appear elsewhere in the text. Some subjects no longer agree with verbs, spellings become inconsistent, and pronouns no longer agree with their antecedents. Unnecessary spaces appear, punctuation is doubled or dropped, and heading levels become garbled.

Be particularly careful about global search-and-replace commands and text insertion. If you order all the threes in your document to become fives, you had better be sure that you mean all the threes. When you copy and paste, insert new information, or update the boilerplate, be careful that the old text is consistent in every way with the new. Fonts, line spacing, lists, and margins can become incompatible.

• Run a Spelling Check. Your computer checks your spelling by matching every word in your text with words in its internal dictionary, flagging those it doesn’t recognize. Then the machine gives you the option of changing the questionable word or leaving it as is.

Spellcheckers are wonderful for finding typographical errors and plain old misspellings—but be careful. The spellchecker may overlook words that are spelled right but are wrong for the context (e.g., there instead of their), so proofreading is still necessary. You can add words from your professional vocabulary to the computerized dictionary; make sure you spell them correctly when you do.

• Run a Grammar Check. Grammar checkers are designed to catch grammar and punctuation errors by comparing your writing with lists of common phrases that often present problems.

For example, most grammar checkers can identify whether you have used a passive or an active verb in a sentence. The checker cannot, however, tell you whether the passive is the correct choice or whether you should change it to an active verb. See ACTIVE/PASSIVE.

Grammar programs are far from reliable in their ability to point out errors in grammar, punctuation, or word usage. They may flag only a small percentage of the errors in your copy, and what they flag may not even be errors. If you’re uncertain, check a reliable grammar-and-usage reference site or book. See REFERENCES.

Some grammar checkers (many are available online) also purport to analyze style. Such style checkers measure sentence length and word length to determine a “reading level” for your text. These levels may be expressed in terms of an index of readership or grade level in school terms. Often style checkers can help you gauge whether your sentences are short enough and your word choice simple enough to make your point effectively to your intended audience. See SENTENCES and GOBBLEDYGOOK. Style checkers will not really identify basic problems of inconsistent or incoherent sentence structure.

Special Word-Processing Resources for Writers

The following resources can help business and technical professionals create high-quality documents. Many are available online.

Bibliographic Databases. Scientific and technical researchers who must work with or provide reference lists in reports may find bibliography programs helpful. These programs permit you to enter information about references and then to format the information according to any bibliographical style you choose (e.g., for formal reports, catalogs, journals, conference proceedings, or dissertations). Professionals who use online databases can transfer reference information directly into the bibliographic database. See BIBLIOGRAPHIES, CITATIONS, and FOOTNOTES. Remember to proofread reference lists just the same as you proofread text.

These databases are also useful for researching books and publications on virtually any topic. For example, ISBNdb.com lists nearly all books ever published or available in the United States.

Mathematical Expression Checkers. Aimed at technical professionals who present mathematical proofs in their writing, these programs enable them to pull mathematical symbols into their copy; to highlight equations, making editing easier; and to work within templates that provide preset mathematical structures for many common equations. See MATHEMATICAL NOTATION.

Graphics Programs. Many sophisticated, easy-to-use programs exist for generating graphics for business and technical documents. You can scan or create your own graphs, diagrams, and charts with a painting or drawing program, and then paste them into your copy. Or you can use one of the many sources of predesigned graphics, photos, or illustrations and just plug them into your copy (be careful here—the quality of these images ranges widely). See GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS and GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS.

Design and Layout Programs. If you need a professional look with highly developed, eye-catching graphics, you may want to step from word processing to design-and-layout software, which provides more sophisticated page layout and graphics opportunities. See PAGE LAYOUT.

Online Publishing Resources. If you need to publish documents online, a wide range and variety of resources are available to you. Most of these applications are low cost or even free of charge. Hosted blog sites enable you to disseminate virtually any kind of content in many different formats. Sites vary greatly in the features they provide; for example, some offer templates, archiving capabilities, or automatic RSS feeds to notify your audience of a new posting.

More ambitious documents, such as ebooks, can be helpful in publicizing your business or providing guidance to your clients; for example, technical manuals are generally available online as ebooks for download or just for reference. Publishing an ebook can be as easy as converting an existing document into a PDF and making it available for download. More sophisticated programs permit converting the book for a proprietary reader and formatting the book into pages instead of flowing text.

Wordy Phrases

Wordy phrases are phrases that use too many words to express an idea. Many of them incorporate or are similar to redundancies, and many wordy phrases have been overused so much they’ve become cliches:

all of a sudden

at a later date

beyond a shadow of a doubt

in light of the fact that

in the environment of

in the neighborhood of

kept under surveillance

on two different occasions

reported to the effect

the fullest possible extent

None of these phrases is necessary, but many writers use them habitually, so they seem “natural” somehow. In informal speech and writing, these phrases may in fact be preferable, depending on your audience. In technical and business writing, however, you should avoid them. See REDUNDANT WORDS, CLICHES, GOBBLEDYGOOK, and SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL STYLE.

1. Avoid wordy phrases.

A fundamental of good writing style is to avoid unnecessary words. Do not say all of a sudden. Just say suddenly. Instead of at a later date, say later. In light of the fact that simply means because of.

The shorter, simpler words or expressions make your writing more concise and, consequently, make it look and sound more professional.

A List of Wordy Phrases

The following list of wordy phrases will help you identify those you habitually use. The wordy phrase appears in the left column; in the right column are possible substitutes.

Writing and Revising

Writing has always been a challenging personal intellectual skill; in the workplace it is also an organizational activity. Organizations now rely on teams of experts and writers to communicate important messages to customers internal and external. In the 21^st-century Knowledge Age, writing is often the primary work of both individuals and teams as they generate “intellectual products” such as reports, proposals, memorandums, articles, white papers, press releases, marketing collateral, legal documents, training materials, and technical manuals. Thus, when we talk about writing in the workplace, we cover a vast spectrum from emails dashed off in a few seconds to voluminous team projects requiring months of work.

As a personal intellectual skill, writing proficiencies vary from person to person. Many people find writing difficult and intimidating. They procrastinate often and they apologize frequently for what they’ve written. Others write more willingly because they find satisfaction in the process and the results of their work.

Each person approaches writing differently because each person’s intellectual skills are unique.

Some people prefer to plan, to discuss, and to think out their entire content before writing a word of text. With computers, many others begin writing text while ideas are growing and changing. Computers make it easy for them to move language around and to edit as their thoughts flow. See WORD PROCESSING.

No matter how you personally approach the task of writing, you likely will find it cyclic, even chaotic. For most writers, writing is an unruly, unpredictable intellectual skill. Unpredictable ideas and implications surface as you struggle to form ideas into words.

Using your own approach is okay, assuming that you are writing efficiently. Still, individual writers will find helpful guidance for improving the quality and efficiency of their work in the following suggestions.

As an organizational activity, writing is a critical but little understood skill. Writers within organizations often work inefficiently and ineffectively because of the complexity of the task and the changing environment around them. Most technical and business professionals have little writing training to begin with. Many constituencies only complicate things further. The marketing, sales, production, and executive teams might all have different views of the issues. Reviews necessitate costly rework. Mistakes and inconsistencies plague the documentation. Baffled customers try angrily to make sense of the result.

Thus, a crucial writing project—for example, the production of the technical specifications for a new drug or a multivolume proposal to get the contract for a billiondollar aircraft—can become an overwhelming team challenge.

On the other end of the spectrum, most writing done in the workplace is probably short, quick messages in the form of emails. Although emails are often unclear and intrusive, they typically don’t require much thought. On the other hand, many emails are quite significant and do need more planning and revision than they usually get.

This section offers general suggestions for all workplace writers, although the focus is primarily on consequential writing projects involving more than a quick email or short memo. For more guidance on how to write and manage email, see ELECTRONIC MAIL and MANAGING INFORMATION.

Writing—Linear Process or Separate Activities?

Like any process, writing can be improved. Researchers into the writing process have tried to describe and generalize an effective sequence of steps, such as the procedure illustrated in figure 1. They theorize that if people learn these steps, they’ll write efficiently.

Figure 1. A Simple, Linear Writing Process. This process works well for short, routine documents. For example, a routine memo or letter would require only the four steps listed above. Writing such a document might take 20 minutes or less. Usually, one person plans, designs, drafts, and revises the memo.

This view of writing as a linear sequence of steps will work for short, routine documents like letters and memos. Writers of short documents often move step by step, with few if any iterations to account for new inputs.

A simple, linear process does not work if the written document is complex or nonroutine.

Instead of staying with a strict linear model, the following guidelines focus on several skill sets or techniques:

• Frontloading (Planning)

• Prototyping (Designing)

• Drafting

• Reviewing

• Revising

These techniques, drawn from the world of quality project management, enable writers to work quickly and ensure a better outcome, thus avoiding delays and costly rework. As shown in figure 2, successful writers and writing teams usually will draw on each skill set several times during their work on a document. The exact nature and sequence of the steps, however, will vary. Even a single writer might cycle through these techniques several times before the project is complete. See PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

Figure 2. Writing Process for Nonroutine, Complex Documents. Nonroutine, complex documents are usually long and data-rich. They usually require multiple contributors and reviewers. The process for such documents requires overlapping, concurrent steps, and often steps will be repeated when new givens (constraints) appear.

Frontloading

Frontloading means providing as much input to the process as possible from as many concerned people as possible as early as possible.

Quality experts know that frontloading is the key to a robust final product. The more and the richer the input early in the process, the more likely is the outcome to stand up to scrutiny and to meet the needs of all users.

The science of quality focuses on doing something right the first time. If properly designed, for example, the fuel pump in an automobile can be installed only the right way, not upside down or backward.

In a similar fashion, if you frontload a projected document, then what you write should need no major late-stage rethinking of strategy, content, and format.

1. Determine the givens for a document as early as possible.

This step is more inclusive than the traditional notion of document planning. Yes, in this step you’ll ask questions and set assignments, but you should also begin to visualize your document even before you’ve written a word.

This initial visualization is a provisional target, one that will evolve and change as you work on the document. With an early visualization in your mind’s eye, your text will grow from and yet be constrained by the format and appearance of your final document. If you are preparing a two-column, four-sided newsletter, the format will limit the sorts of articles and graphics you can include.

As in this newsletter example, format and appearance affect and limit the content. This approach reverses the traditional model, where content comes first and is then formatted and polished later on.

To begin your frontloading of the document, ask the following questions:

—What is your main point? (What do you want readers to do? to know? to feel?)

—Who will read your document and what are their priorities?

—What sort of document (length, format, graphics, and content) do you intend to write?

—What organizational goals (or constraints) exist?

—Who inside or outside the organization can help you meet these goals?

Always answer each of the preceding questions. The more complex the writing task, the more desirable you’ll find the habit of answering such questions in writing, either in a formal checklist or an informal list of reminders.

Don’t assume that if you are working alone you needn’t address these frontloading questions.

If your writing is an organizational activity, you, your collaborators, and your manager(s) need to agree on answers to the frontloading questions. The longer you delay involving these key participants, the more likely you’ll face costly rewrites. As early as possible, convene a team with as many contributors as feasible. If possible, include both internal and external customers. See WORD PROCESSING.

Be sure to record the answers to these questions in writing and circulate these answers to all the contributors. What you will find is that you have already begun the writing because material in your answers will likely flow directly into the document you are planning.

Prototyping

Prototypes are full-scale visualizations of a document. Often document prototypes are called mock-ups, wireframes, or storyboards. Regardless of the terminology used, a document prototype has these features:

—A full page-to-page correspondence between the prototype and the final document

—A page layout (or style sheet) to guide how text is written (See PAGE LAYOUT.)

—Headings and subheadings that show the organization and scope of the text to be written

—Graphics and captions to highlight key points

A document prototype differs from an engineering prototype, which is a full-scale working model. A document prototype is not full or complete, so it is not a “working” model in the engineering sense. The document prototype is, however, a full visualization of the final document.

2. Develop an evolving prototype of your potential document and use this prototype to monitor your progress on the document.

A document prototype evolves gradually, through iterations. A document prototype should be a team activity, although a single writer sometimes prepares a prototype for discussion or team review.

A document prototype will save time and money if it guides all later stages of document preparation, including the writing of text. A document prototype is an evolving and maturing tool as a team’s vision of the final document evolves and matures.

The initial prototype is very skeletal—perhaps little more than blank pages or screens with a few key headings and several key graphics sketched in. The initial prototype is a visualization of the document to come. This visualization functions as a working hypothesis. See figure 3 for a few pages from an initial prototype.

Several iterations later, an interim prototype will contain most headings and subheadings, as well as sketches of most graphics. But this prototype still has little text. See figure 4 for an example of an interim prototype.

A mature prototype—which may be the product of weeks of teamwork—begins to look like a rough draft. A mature prototype has full headings and subheadings, versions of all graphics, and even some text. Some pages are still blank, however. See figure 5 for an example of a mature prototype.

The mature prototype becomes a rough draft when the text is complete, but not final. The design and scope of the document should be final by the time the rough draft is ready for review.

As in most rough drafts, mature prototypes contain misspelled words and grammar and usage problems. These don’t matter. Late-stage, careful revision will correct the errors.

3. Build prototypes collaboratively and with brainstorming techniques.

A prototype should include rich input from all concerned and interested people. Invite input from engineers, scientists, managers, legal staff, fabrication specialists, suppliers, marketing, finance, sales representatives, government regulators, and customers (internal and external).

Early prototyping should be a brainstorming activity—that is, almost a game to be played. Remind yourself and your collaborators not to be too judgmental or too negative.

4. Use the prototype to define content issues that need to be resolved.

Even an initial prototype will allow you to define content issues that need further work.

—What job does the customer want the product to do? Which scientific studies are yet to be done?

—Do government regulations require a particular test or sampling approach?

—What financial constraints will govern production decisions?

—What would our followers in the social media have to say about this approach?

Your work with the early prototypes raises significant strategic issues, not superficial late-stage questions about format or language.

5. Integrate ongoing reviews into each prototyping session.

Make reviewing part of the prototyping process, not something done after a version of the prototype is finished. (See the reviewing guidelines in rules 7 through 11.)

Ongoing reviews are just one version of team collaboration. You might, for instance, open a follow-on prototyping session by walking through the prototype from an earlier session. Or you might end a prototyping session by asking a participant to turn pages and review remaining content issues.

Such reviews are different from a late-stage managerial review.

If possible, include your manager(s) in the early prototyping sessions so they have a stake in the evolving prototype as it is produced. If they don’t see the prototype until it is mature, they will often require the team to repeat many of the earlier steps—thus wasting much time and money.

Drafting

Writing the draft begins when you make your first frontloading notes. It continues as you work to flesh out your prototype. It does not end until you make your final revisions.

A key tenet of time management is that you manage a complex task by breaking it up into shorter, less unwieldy tasks. Use the same approach in your writing.

6. Develop your own personal strategies for making the writing of a draft a comfortable, repeatable task.

Your strategies will be necessarily unique, but some possible ones to consider are the following:

—Write the easy stuff first. This will get your creative thoughts flowing.

—Don’t worry about writing your draft in one sitting. Instead, work on your draft section by section, sentence by sentence.

—Turn off the internal voice that judges each word you write. Instead, view each word as an accomplishment, not something to immediately delete and rewrite.

—Visualize yourself talking to your readers. Your thoughts and language should be just as natural and as free-flowing as your talk would be.

Figure 3. Initial Prototype. Team members prepare an initial prototype using spaces on a whiteboard, blank pages, or computer screens. For a brochure such as this, they might tape together three 8.5 x 11 sheets to capture the sequence of pages and to help them visualize the final product. As in this example, text in an initial prototype is often sketchy or missing, and graphics remain to be designed or located.

Figure 4. Interim Prototype. Days or weeks later, the prototype moves over into an established format, as in this example. Text is still sketchy, or missing. Graphics are sketched, but not finished. An interim prototype should be complete enough to allow for review by managers or customers.

Figure 5. Mature Prototype. A mature prototype is often the same as a rough draft. Text and graphics are included, even though still rough or unfinished. Color might or might not be used. Revision and editing will change some of the text and, perhaps, even some of the graphics.

—When you complete a section, take time to congratulate yourself.

Reviewing

Reviewing provides valuable feedback for organizations to use in guaranteeing the quality of intellectual products. Reviewing is, however, an inefficient and costly process unless it is well managed.

Three types of review are often desirable: customer, peer, and managerial. The numbered rules 7 through 9 apply to all three types of reviews.

Customer reviews can be formal, as with focus groups, or informal. In either case, your aim is to raise issues that actual users of the document will face. The ideal reviewers of a marketing piece or a user manual, for example, are those to whom it’s addressed—your customers, whether external or internal. What questions do they have? Do they understand the message? Can they follow the instructions? Are they put off by anything in the document?

For customer reviews, you might want to take advantage of the various document usability tests outlined in PROJECT MANAGEMENT. These tests will tell you if the document is meeting the needs of its intended audience.

Peer review occurs when professional and technical colleagues review a document (either a prototype or rough draft) for its content or its presentation of the content. Peers, by definition, are colleagues who have no managerial authority over the writer(s). Their suggestions to the writer(s) are not binding.

Managerial review occurs when managers within an organization exercise their authority to review and approve or disapprove a document.

Their responses to a document are binding unless they choose to allow for negotiations and adjustments.

7. Provide for early and frequent reviews from a broad sample of reviewers (including managers).

Schedule reviews during the development of the initial prototype. Continue to schedule reviews until the final draft is ready to be printed and shipped.

Customer reviews, peer reviews, and managerial reviews should occur early if they are to be effective. Early reviews give reviewers a stake in how an evolving document looks and what it says.

Mid-project or late reviews are wasteful and costly when reviewers change the whole scope and direction of the document. Such mid-project or late reviews are frequently the only time a manager sees the document. Managerial review comments at these later stages are costly to the organization and frustrating to the writer(s).

Include managers, if possible, especially in the early review sessions. Managerial input is essential if you want to head off last-minute adjustments based on managerial preferences that you failed to identify in the early stages of your work on a key document.

The broader your reviewers’ backgrounds, the more likely they are to catch all problems or inconsistencies. Include reviewers who are not familiar with the project as well as those who are familiar with it. In customer reviews, consider including non-customers as well as current ones.

8. Meet face to face for most reviews, and record the results of such a meeting in writing.

A face-to-face meeting—or at least a teleconference—among reviewers and the writer(s) is more efficient and productive, if properly conducted, than written reviews.

Written comments on draft materials are time-consuming to write, not to mention being difficult to read and collate, especially if several reviewers disagree about points.

Written comments are often unclear and difficult to interpret. An efficient oral review has the features shown in the checklist on the following page.

9. Develop strategies for who will work on document defects and who will research content issues.

Either during or after the oral review session, prepare a list of content issues, the names of people responsible for resolving the issues, and due dates.

Circulate this list to all participants, including reviewers, and schedule a follow-up session.

Subsequent review sessions should always address these content issues. Some issues, however, will require several follow-up discussions as new information becomes available.

Revising

Traditional advice was to leave revising until you had finished the full draft. Creating the draft supposedly required a different mental approach than revising.

With computers, this advice is less and less true. The computer encourages writers to revise and then revise again as they are working on headings, section introductions, and pieces of the draft.

Revising on the computer is a problem only if a writer bogs down and wastes time fixing text that is likely to change significantly. Too much revision is the enemy of efficiency. See WORD PROCESSING.

10. Set revision priorities both for yourself and for others who can help you revise and edit.

Revision priorities mean that neither reviewers nor revisers attempt to do everything at once. Most people cannot read and revise everything in a single reading. Instead, plan to use multiple readings, each reading directed toward a different reviewing/revision priority.

The three broad levels of potential revision are as follows:

• Macro revision. Rework the overall content, design, and organization of the document. Revise or expand conclusions and recommendations. Tinker with headings and subheadings to make them more informative. Rework or add graphics.

• Medium revision. Rewrite data and information for consistency and logical effectiveness. Control the flow of old and new information from sentence to sentence. Your goal is to make sure the language flows logically and smoothly.

• Micro revision. Edit and proofread individual sentences and phrases for correctness, including word choice, spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

11. Use up-to-date references to guide your revision decisions.

No one can or should remember all the rules and guidelines of document preparation and language correctness.

Maintain online or near your computer a set of basic and up-to-date references. At the least, obtain and use the following:

—A recent dictionary from a major publisher

—One or more general style guides

This Style Guide is an illustration of the sort of guide to acquire. For additional suggestions, see REFERENCES.

—Specialized professional guides or glossaries

Engineers and scientists, such as geologists, mathematicians, chemists—these and every professional group have their own guides. Be sure you know what these are and acquire the latest editions.

12. Know when to stop revising.

Know when enough is enough.

Many writers are tempted to revise more than necessary, especially given the editing tools in word-processing software. Hours spent revising and reworking low-priority items are costly. Many writers today waste much of their time with needless revising. They move text around, rewrite passages, and then repeatedly print hard copies for review.

Efficient writing means limiting revisions to the essentials.