canadian and uk tools and editing...

Canadian and UKtools and editing guidelines

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English usage in different countries

English spellings and usage often differ by region or country.Canadians, for example, typically use British spelling for words ending in-our (colour, not color) and -re (centre, not center), yet use traditionalAmerican spelling for words ending in -ize/ise (organize, not organise).However, there are always exceptions. Advertise, for example, is spelledthe same way in Canada, the U.S. and Britain, and British spelling isincreasingly accepting of -ize endings. Therefore, this Guide offers onlypreliminary guidelines and suggests consulting the published style refer-ences cited on page 27.

Canadian and American spellings: a few examples

The “our” ruleFor words of more than one syllable in which the “u” is not pronounced,Canadian authorities have adopted the “our” spelling as the standard.American authorities use “or.”

Canadian

armourbehaviourcolourdemeanourendeavourfavour, favourite, favouredflavourhonour, honourable but honoraryhumour, but humorousneighbourodour, but odorousrigour, but rigorousrumoursaviourexception: tremorvalour, but valorousvapour, but vaporous

American

armorbehaviorcolordemeanorendeavorfavorflavorhonorhumorneighborodorrigorrumorsaviortremorvalorvapor

3.1Editors’ tips:A quick-reference summary of editing guidelines

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English Writing Style Guide

Second Edition 2010

3.1 Editors’ tips

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Canadian use of the double “l”

Is it one “l” or two? Here are a few common Canadian usages that canchallenge even experienced spellers:

compel, compelled, compelling counsel, counsellor, counsellingenrol, enrolled, but enrolmentfulfil, fulfilled, fulfillmentinstall, installation, but instalmentmarvel, marvelled, marvelloussignal, signalledtotal, totalledtravel, traveller, travelled

Other accepted Canadian spellings:

centre, centred, centring – not center, centered, centeringcheque – not checkdefence – not defensedialogue – not dialoggrey – not graypractice (noun) open a practice practise (verb) practise medicinepretence – not pretenseprogram – not the British programme (unless part of a third-party title, as in “Toronto International Film Festival World Cinema Programme”)theatre – not theater

Special note: For documents written in Canada containing U.S. names,use the U.S. spelling for the entity, then revert to Canadian spellingfor the rest of the document.

Example: “The report came from the Centers for Disease Control inAtlanta, Georgia. These centres, and others like it, are dedicated to healthprotection in the United States.”

References

Canadian spelling and style

Canadian Press Stylebook, 15th edition or newer (there’s also an online version)

Canadian Press Caps and Spelling, 18th edition

Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd edition

American spelling and style

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition

Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition

British spelling and style

Concise Oxford English Dictionary

3.1 Editors’ tips

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Punctuation

This short section is not intended as a comprehensive guide to punctuation,but provides a few useful tips for quick reference. Refer to the style manualson page 27 for more detailed usage rules.

Series comma:In Canada, the U.K., and if using Associated Press (AP) style, or “newspaper style” in the U.S., there is no series comma in a list before“and” or “or,” unless needed for clarity (“lions, tigers and bears” not“lions, tigers, and bears”).

In the U.S., however, if using the Chicago Manual of Style, our recom-mended style guide for Sun Life writers, the series comma is the rule(“lions, tigers, and bears”).

Ellipses:Ellipses consist of three dots, broken up with one space between eachdot, with an additional space before and after. Ellipses are properly usedto indicate an omission of a word, phrase, line or paragraph from quotedmaterial. Capitalize the word following the ellipses dots if the wordbegins a complete sentence. For example:

Original paragraph:Isabelle and Joel were getting ready to retire just as the financial crisis hit.Thankfully, they had worked closely with their financial advisor and were asready as they could be for the downturn. The work they had done together gavethem the flexibility to stick with their plan.

Suppose the passage had to be shortened without losing context. Thewriter chooses to omit some words:

Isabelle and Joel were getting ready to retire just as the financial crisis hit.Thankfully, they had worked closely with their financial advisor . . . The workthey’d done together gave them the flexibility to stick with their plan.

Ellipses are also used to indicate a lapse of time or a pause longer thanthe pause suggested by an en dash. For example:

Through a disciplined approach to investing and good planning, they can retireon their terms . . . not the economy’s.

When using ellipses as a pause, use sparingly; usually the appropriatepause can be indicated by an en dash.

3.1 Editors’ tips

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3.1 Editors’ tips

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Through a disciplined approach to investing and good planning, they can retireon their terms – not the economy’s.

Hyphenation: Hyphenate prefixes to avoid doubling a vowel, tripling a consonant, orduplicating a prefix (co-operate, doll-like, sub-subcommittee). See CPStyle or Chicago Style for more examples.

A double word used as an adjective is hyphenated. The same two wordsfollowing a verb are not.

The Company is following a well-structured plan for recovery. ButThe Company’s plan for recovery is well structured.

Parentheses:Don’t nest parentheses more than one level (such as here (in this example)there is only one added set of parentheses nested inside the main set)

Quotation marks:North American quotation mark styles put periods (and other punctuationmarks) inside the quotation marks:

The reviewer said, “This document is complete.”

When “quoting a quote,” use single quotation marks inside the doubles.

Her supervisor said, “I don’t understand why she said, ‘This document is complete.’”

Abbreviations and other short forms

Lowercase, geographic, and most mixed-case abbreviations, as well as initials and mixed-case academic degrees and honours, use periods(m.p.h., a.m., Mr., U.S., M.Sc., H.P. Lovecraft).

Mixed-case abbreviations starting and ending with a capital letter do not use periods (U of T).

Initialisms shorten a multi-word name by using initials, usually the firstletters of each word. Most use full capitalization without periods (FBI,IBM, RBC), except for acronyms more than five characters long,generally (Nasdaq, not NASDAQ).

Spell out the first instance of an abbreviation/initialism, or use a full and proper corporate name and then add the short form in parentheses(“In the United Kingdom (U.K.) . . . U.K. sales,” “Acme Widgets (AW) . . .AW’s sales”).

Co., Corp., Inc. and Ltd. should be used only when abbreviated in thecompany’s actual or proper name.

Do not use postal abbreviations for provinces or states (Alberta, not AB;New York, not NY).

In tables and graphs, only the seven months with longer names areabbreviated (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.); other monthsare spelled out in running text.

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Capitalization

Headings: Sentence style (capitalize only the first letter of the headingplus any proper nouns).

After colons: Capitalize the first letter of full sentences.

Titles: Titles that come before a name are uppercase (Vice-PresidentSusan Smith); titles are lowercase after a name or when preceded by anarticle (“Susan Smith, assistant manager,” or “the president of ABCFinancial”).

“Company”: Uppercase only when referring to Sun Life Financial (“theCompany”) lowercase c when referring to a company in general (“Hereferred the matter to the company involved.”).

Company/brand names: Capitalize only the first letter of an all-capsabbreviation (Via Rail, not VIA Rail; Visa credit card, not VISA creditcard), unless this conflicts with proper usage.

Sun Life Financial products and programs

Capitalize trademarked and registered products: (“He purchased Sun LifeFinancial’s Sun Critical Illness Insurance,” but “He purchased critical illness insurance.”).

Capitalize Sun Life Financial programs: (Annual Incentive Plan).

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3.1 Editors’ tips

Numbers and dates

Numbers one to nine are spelled out; 10 and up are numerical, with exceptions:

• Ninth, 10th, 20th century. Dates are written without the suffix: e.g., March 3, not 3rd; June 10, not 10th

• $7, $0.15, 3.14, 80,000, one million, 2.8 billion, a $30-million grant

• 5 per cent, 35.7 per cent, 7% (in tables, graphs and financial docu-ments such as quarterly earnings and news releases)

Do not begin a sentence with a numeral. Spell out the number (“Elevenyears ago the company was formed”) or re-write the sentence to avoidstarting with a number (“The company was formed 11 years ago”).

In a series of similar numbers, don’t mix numerals and spelled-out numbers(“The children’s ages were 8, 11 and 12”).

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Currency: C$20, US$200 million

Assume all currency is Canadian unless otherwise indicated.*

* In Canadian publications, the placement of

this phrase at the beginning of the docu-

ment precludes having to put C before the

dollar sign.

Fiscal years: F2002 (may be abbrevi-

ated on first-time use, or may be

spelled out)

Fiscal quarters: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4

in footnotes, but “first quarter,”

“second quarter,” etc., in text. When

combined with a year: Q4/09

Time: 5 p.m., 10:15 p.m.

Time zones: PDT/PST, MDT/MST,

CDT/CST, EDT/EST, ADT/AST and

NDT/NSD (11:15 a.m. EST)

Decades: The ’90s or the 1990s

Measurements: Use symbols or abbrevia-

tions when used with figures: 5.5 cm,

100 km, 16 in., 5 ft.

Canadian/British date: dd month yyyy

(05 July 2009). If space is a problem,

dd/mm/yyyy (05/07/2009)

Canadian/British date in a sentence:

Comma after year, no zero in first day digit

(“January 1, 2009, was the first day of . . . ”)

U.S. date: In text: mm dd yyyy

(July 5, 2009). If space is a problem,

mm/dd/yy (07/05/09)

French date: dd month yyyy

(16 février 2004)

Ranges: $2 million to $15 million,

pages 5–10

Ratios: 5:1, 5-to-1 odds; the odds

are 5 to 1

North American telephone/

fax numbers: 1-866-SUN-LIFE,

1-800-222-2222, 416-222-2222 ext. 5800

North American telephone numbers:

Corporate office: 416-979-9966

Canadian headquarters: 519-888-3900

Toronto office: 416-408-7500

Montreal office: 514-866-6411

Sun Life Financial U.S.: 781-237-6030

Canadian Call Centre:

1 877 SUN-LIFE / 1 877 786 5433

U.S. Call Centre:

1 800 SUN-LIFE / 1 800 786 5433

3.1 Editors’ tips

Lists

Bulleted listsVarious style guides and many editors disagree on how to construct bulleted lists. Depending on the publication and editors’ preferences,several styles are accepted as “correct.” The following outlines some ofthe most popular styles in current usage. Whichever style you choose, try to be as consistent as possible throughout a document, or throughouta section of the document.

1 The list is introduced with a complete grammatical sentence ending in a colon

(a) When introducing a list with a complete grammatical sentence ending in a colon, the bulleted list items should be phrases, the firstword in the each phrase is NOT capitalized and there should be nopunctuation.

Example:Your application must include the following documents:• a full resume• three letters of recommendation• all your diplomas

BUT when the list uses numbers instead of bullets, the first word is capitalized.

Example:Your application must include the following documents:1. A full resume2. Three letters of recommendation3. All your diplomas

(b) If the bullet points are longer and stand on their own as completesentences, capitalize the first letter in each bullet and use punctuation.

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3.1 Editors’ tips

Example:Sun Life prides itself on its values:• We are committed to the highest standards of business ethics.• We value our diverse, talented employees and encourage

their contributions.• We seek insights to empower our customers to act with

confidence for a brighter financial future.

(c) If one list item consists of one or more full, complete sentences, thenmake ALL the list items complete sentences, capitalizing the first word ineach and ending with a period.

Example:Here are a few key points regarding the growth of your money:• Your earnings are linked to the positive growth of the market.• Your share of the index increase is calculated after we apply interest.

Participation rates are guaranteed on the contract anniversary.• Any interest earnings will grow, tax free, until withdrawn.

(d) This example also applies when the items are numbered, not bulleted.)

2 The list is introduced with an incomplete sentence

When introducing a list with an incomplete sentence, with the list itemcompleting the sentence, do not capitalize the first words in the list (justas you would not if the completing words were in a regular sentence,which is essentially what this type of bulleted list does). Use punctua-tion, as you would in a regular sentence. Note that each item in the listfollows grammatically from the introductory element.

Example:(a) commas:

Sun Life holds to many values, including:• a commitment to the highest standards of business ethics,• valuing our diverse, talented employees and encourage their

contributions, and• seeking insights to empower our customers to act with

confidence for a brighter financial future.

1.1 Who we are: The SunLife Financial Brand

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Example(b) semicolons.

Semicolons are generally used when the list items themselves containmany commas or “ands””:

Financial educators in government act by providing:• regulations for securities organizations;• support for credit counselling agencies and their clients;• information to community organizations;• updates to financial services firms, business and

financial journalists, as well as the general news media; and• protocols, procedures and templates to private sector organizations

that specialize in tax instruction.

Exceptions to all of the above can be made depending on the document.The general rule of thumb is to try to stay consistent within a document.

Sources:Canadian Press Stylebook, 15th Edition

Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition

Editing Canadian English, 2nd Edition

The Copyeditor’s Handbook, Second Edition

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3.1 Editors’ tips

Formatting

Boldface May be used to emphasize key points or statements in your documents(e.g., company names, share prices).

ItalicsUse italics for book titles, periodicals, newspapers, movie titles, plays,works of art, operas and other performances, but not the institution ororganization that presents them. (“The article written by the InsuranceInstitute appeared in Macleans, The New York Times and was later pub-lished in French in Le Devoir.” “As part of its philanthropic activities, Sun Life sponsored performances of King Lear at the Stratford Festivaland the National Gallery of Canada Renoir’s Landscapes exhibit.”)

Use italics when using Latin expressions such as ad hoc, per se, in vitro.However, in keeping with the desire for plain language, it is preferable to avoid Latin terms whenever possible.

Use italics for emphasis in place of underlining when writing for print.Write “This is a never to be repeated opportunity,” not “This is a never tobe repeated opportunity.”

Note: Writers may wish to check printed proofs to ensure that the designers incorporated

italics when transposing text to the printed piece.

UnderlineMay be used in online material.

Other style points

Singular possessives ending in “s”: James’s car

Trademarked brand names: Use ™ or ® on first mention

1.1 Who we are: The SunLife Financial Brand

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3.3 Glossary B: Definitions

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Term Definition

Acronym

Active voice

Audience

A word formed from the firstletters of a name; e.g., NATO (NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization).

Sentence construction in which thesubject is performing an action rep-resented by the verb rather thanbeing acted on (as in a passive sentence).

Active: We dismissed the supplier.Passive: The supplier was dismissed.

Person or group of people that adocument is intended to reach.

Overuse makes documentssound bureaucratic and can beconfusing. Always spell out anacronym or other abbreviatedform in its first instance, e.g:World Health Organization(WHO).

Writing in the active voice holdsthe interest of your reader, makesthe subject of the work seemmore dynamic, and is more persuasive. The active voice isrecommended for almost allwriting.

To write effectively, writers mustbe aware of their audience andits needs.

Significance

The following table defines and explains the importance of terms and expressions

commonly used in writing, graphic design and communication.

Term Definition Significance


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Primary audience

Boldface text

Clear language

Combined list

Person or group of people that itis most important for the docu-ment to reach. A document canhave multiple audiences (e.g., citycouncillors, department supervisorsand the public).

Text printed in a thick, black typeface.

See Plain language.

Two or more lists combined intoone structure; e.g., a price list con-tains a list of items for sale and alist of prices.

Know who your primary audi-ence is and what their needs are.Avoid being distracted by theskills and requirements of otheraudiences (e.g., don’t use jargonthat only people in your fieldwill understand when your writ-ing is primarily intended for thepublic). Determine your primaryaudience by evaluating how eachgroup of people will use theinformation provided in the document and how much theyneed it.

Effectively used for emphasis(versus text that is underlined or in all capitals).

For maximum readability, keepcombined lists simple. Considerplacing information from a combined list in a table, chart,or graph.


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Content

Design

Document literacy

Focus group

The information that a text docu-ment contains; what you want toget across.

The layout, visual organizationand artistic details of a document.

The knowledge and skillsrequired to locate and use infor-mation contained in a document.Document literacy tasks includelocating an address on a map,using a schedule to plan a traintrip, and entering information ona form.

Collection of consumers (oftenfrom varied backgrounds) askedto view and evaluate an advertis-ing concept in the interest ofmaximizing its effect.

To reach your audience mosteffectively, aim for clear, organ-ized and transparent content inyour writing.

A simple, clear design con-tributes to the readability andoverall ability to communicate in a document.

It is important to know youraudience’s level of document literacy when writing.

One of the most effective waysto judge the strength of yourmessage.


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Form

Grade reading level

Hidden verbs

Information design

Well-designed forms are astraightforward way to draw specific information from yourintended audience.

Can effectively judge whether a document will be understood by its intended audience.

Casting nouns as verbs cantransform passive into active writing.

Well-organized information in a document improves readers’comprehension and attentionspan.


A printed document with blankspaces for information to beinserted. See also Template.

Way of measuring the skill levelrequired to read and understand apiece of writing. Evaluation forgrade reading level is based on fac-tors such as sentence, word, andparagraph length and the use ofvisual elements.

Long verb phrases containing nounscan often be shortened to one containing only a verb. For example,“We will have no ownership” can be rewritten as “We will not own.”

Organization of information formaximum clarity, ease, and speedof reading and comprehension. Theprocess of information designincludes organization, clarificationof details, and deletion of lessimportant or redundant informa-tion in the text.



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Jargon

Kerning

Label

Layout

Leading(led-ding)

Left justified, ragged right text

Language understood only by a spe-cific group; e.g., legal jargon. SeeTechnical language.

In typesetting, the adjustable spacebetween letters on a page.

A cue that directs the reader toinput the proper information into alist or organizing category; e.g.,birth date.

Placement of text, pictures, chartsand diagrams on a page.

Amount of space between lines oftext. Leading is measured in thesame unit as font size; e.g., 9/13leading represents use of a 9-pointfont with 3 points of additionalleading (12 in total) between thelines.

Block of text that is aligned on theleft side (flush left) with a ragged,or uneven, right edge.

Should be avoided at all costs;makes writing harder to understand.

Overly high (wide) or low (narrow) kerning can negativelyimpact readability. See alsoLeading.

A direct way for writers toprompt for specific answers onforms and other documents.

A simple layout with generouswhite space is key when creatingplain language documents. Seealso Plain design.

Generous leading increases read-ability of text blocks by givingparagraphs a light, airy feel; 9/13leading is an appropriate ratiooften used in magazines. Seealso Kerning.

This is the most readable choiceof text alignment.



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List

Navigation

Outline

A group of items with at least onefeature or attribute in common. Theshared attribute is usually indicatedby the list’s label.

A general term for moving around a document. Navigational aidsinclude headers, page numbers oran index. Navigation may be aidedby strong graphical cues as to whatto do next. Navigating a documentonline is slightly different. Linkscan replace references to other partsof the document.

A rough statement of the main factsor features to be presented in apiece of writing. An outline mayeither be included as a kind ofdirectory in the first few pages ofthe document or produced exclu-sively for the writer’s use to organ-ize his or her thoughts. See alsoTemplate and Form.

Can be useful to organize infor-mation because it makes contenteasily understood by the reader.

Using layout and visual details tohelp the reader navigate throughyour document helps to providethe requested information effectively and with minimalconfusion. Document navigationplanning also helps the writergather and compare informationmore easily.

Use of carefully developed out-lines, forms and templates canoften help writers to generatemore readable documents.Creating an outline will help thewriter clarify the purpose andintentions of the document.Including an outline in the firstpages of a document (as a tableof contents) will mentally pre-pare readers for the informationto be presented and help them toabsorb it.



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Parallel construction

PASS

Passive voice

Personal pronouns

A type of sentence structure thatimplies the equal importance oftwo ideas by stating them ingrammatically parallel form; i.e.,noun with noun, verb with verb.Julius Caesar’s phrase “I came, I saw, I conquered” is a parallelconstruction; it implies that con-quering was as easy as comingand seeing, and that all threeactions are equally important.

Rules for plain language: Keep itPersonal, Active, Short andSimple.

Sentence construction in whichthe subject is acted upon ratherthan performing an action as inuse of the active voice.

Any pronoun used to refer to thespeaker; e.g., we, us, our, ours(first person plural); you, your/yours (second person singular).

Increases clarity and elegance in writing.

Using the passive voice allowsyou to downplay the actor performing the verb, which isdesirable in certain situations.

Use personal pronouns in yourwriting to engage the reader andpromote use of the active voice.



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Plain design

Plain language

Documents are organized withthe goal of guiding readersthrough the information easilyand quickly. In plain design,design is simplified to includeonly key elements and make useof bold face, a legible font, amplewhite space, flush-left justifiedtext, and often charts and illustrations.

A simple and direct style of writingthat aims to communicate essentialinformation in a way that is gearedtoward the needs and abilities ofthe reader. Information in plainlanguage should, ideally, beunderstood properly on its firstreading. Plain language uses theactive voice, speaks directly to thereader, avoids all jargon, uses shortwords and sentences, uses parallelstructure, uses a positive toneand may include lists. All of thesefactors support the goal of clarityand ease of comprehension.

Contributes to clear communica-tion of text-based information.

Advised method of writing toensure clear communication toyour directed audience.Especially useful for public documents.


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See Plain language.Communication (writing orspeaking) that the reader or lis-tener can understand after read-ing or hearing it once. Operatesby the same rules as plain lan-guage, including short para-graphs, sentences and words, andthe avoidance of jargon.

Part of a sentence indicating the action performed. It containsthe verb and words modifying the verb.

Continuous passages of textorganized into paragraphs; infor-mation conveyed.

The knowledge and skills requiredto locate, understand, and useinformation from texts. Prose lit-eracy tasks include finding specificfacts in operating manuals, inter-preting regulations and followingwritten work instructions.

Term used by the State ofWashington in the U.S.

One of two required parts of asentence. See also Subject.

Simplicity and clarity of prose iskey when aiming to communi-cate with your audience.

To write a document that will be effective, know the prose literacy of your audience beforebeginning.

Plain talk

Predicate

Prose

Prose literacy


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The knowledge and skills requiredto apply arithmetic operationsusing numbers embedded inprinted materials. Quantitative literacy tasks include balancing acheque book and calculating adiscount.

Tools that measure a document orsegment of text for ease and speedof reading and comprehension.

Information or words that can becut out of a document withoutaltering its meaning.

Information gathered beforebeginning to write a document.

How to respond to the directivesand questions on a form; e.g., textentry, putting check marks inboxes, and circling yes/no.Without specific instructions,readers may improvise, makingresults less standardized.

Writers should be aware of theiraudience’s quantitative as well asprose literacy when generatingdocuments that include numbersembedded in the text.

Can be useful to determinewhether your document isappropriate for its audience.

Watch out for these in docu-ments that seem excessively longor sound bureaucratic. Deletingthem is a simple way to clarifyyour writing.

When writing in plain language,research involves gathering exten-sive information about your audi-ence as well as the topic.

Be clear about the requiredresponse mode on forms andother documents to simplify theinformation-gathering processfor yourself and the reader. SeeNavigation, Label.

Quantitative literacy

Reading effectiveness tools

Redundant information or words

Research

Response mode



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Sentence structure

Set solid type

Sidebar

Style

Subject

Placement of nouns, verbs and other parts of speech in a sentence.

Type set without any additionalleading (lines of text are veryclose together).

A short and usually boxed articlewithin a larger document thatcontains information explainingor expanding on the main text.

The choice of words, voice andtone in a document.

In a sentence, the noun, nounphrase or noun substitute thatperforms the action indicated bythe verb.

Simple sentence structure is mosteffective when writing docu-ments for a general audience.

Makes text difficult to read; avoidthis. See also Leading, Kerning.

Can be used to draw attention tomaterial you wish to highlight.

Greatly impacts the reader’s ability and desire to read andunderstand a piece of writing.An informal and simplified stylethat addresses the reader, usesactive verbs, and avoids jargon isoften effective to reach a broadaudience.

One of two required parts of asentence; see also Predicate.


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Table

Technical language

Template

Text-based writing analysis

A collection of words, numbers or symbols, possibly arranged in boxes or columns, that aims to summarize and compare information.

Language that requires a very specialized education to under-stand; jargon.

A stored pattern for a documentfrom which new documents canbe made. See also Form.

When using plain language, theprocess of testing the readabilityof a document by factors such asparagraph, sentence and wordlength. Testing can be done bysomeone who is not a member ofthe document’s target audience.FOG readability testing is a formof text-based writing analysis.

When used effectively, canpresent information in a waythat is easily understood at aglance and less confusing thana text description.

Usually ineffective, unless theaudience consists exclusively ofprofessionals in the chosen field.

Creating documents from atemplate can help users navi-gate through the informationmore easily, thus providingmore useful responses.However, a template can reducecommunication if it is not well-geared to the document’s audi-ence or the information to becommunicated.

When used exclusively, maynot be as effective as reader-based analysis methods todetermine how well a docu-ment communicates.


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Tone

Usability testing

Voice (passive vs. active)

White space

Writing process

The underlying quality of a pieceof writing that expresses theauthor’s attitudes and assump-tions. Word choice, voice andpunctuation all contribute to tone.

Process of testing documents forplain language. Term was devel-oped from market research andproduct testing.

Voice refers to whether the subject acts or is acted upon. Active: The client submitted a claim. Passive: A claim was submitted bythe client.

In the layout of a document,blank or unused space aroundthe type and graphics.

The steps a writer goes through toproduce a document that com-municates effectively. The basicprocess includes prewriting (out-lining), writing and revising.

Use of the wrong tone in docu-ments intended for a broad audi-ence alienates readers. Forexample, a bureaucratic tonerelayed through jargon andlengthy sentences or paragraphswill deter the public from readinga political document.

Increases readability and broad-ens access to the document; aneffective testing method. See alsoFocus group.

Contributes heavily to tone; it canhelp writers downplay the subject(passive) or come across moreforcefully (active). Active voice is generally easier to read andunderstand, because the messageis relayed clearly and directly.

Aids readability of a document.

Awareness and use of an organ-ized writing process leads toclear writing that communicatesits main points in a logical, easy-to-understand way.
