MODULE 7 -WRITTEN STYLE

USING SYNONYMS

- A word or phrase that means the same as another word or phrase. Using them to prevent repetition is good but be careful to pick the correct terms: using 'argues' instead of 'says' for a quote can only work if the quote is actually arguing something. Look out for excessive or inappropriate use of synonyms by the author. (due to Word thesauraus and not checking the definition first) e.g. principal and principal. the thesauraus could suggest words for the wrong definition.

UNNECESSARY MODIFIERS

- Are used as filler in a sentence, such as in the following: 'invading Russia was DEFINITELY a strategic mistake' the adverb 'definitely' does not add anything significant to the sentence. The same sometimes occurs with derterminers: 'It does not matter which PARTICULAR battle we examine' - 'particular' can be cut without losing anything meaningful. you may find that cutting unnecessary modifers from sentences improves clarity and concision. Other common ones include: *actually *basically *very *kind of *somewhat *extremely *practically * generally * specific *really *virtually

PADDING WORDS & PHRASES

- these are typically cliched terms that writers use without thinking, they rarely serve a practical purpose and can usually be cut. Common padding phrases include: *In my opinion *What I meant to say is *For the most part As a matter of fact *it seems that *Have a tendency to *To all intents and purposes *for the purposes of *because of the fact that *all things considered

PRONOUNS & CLARITY

1) An issue related to pronouns is when their REFERENT is not clear from the context. It is common when the prior clause mentions two things to which the pronoun could refer to: 'Barbara told Liz to turn the music up loud. She danced across the room.' - 'She' could be referring to either person. 2) This can also occur when a noun is missing: 'The band started to play, and they danced until midnight' - this seems as if the band danced NOT people - which was the missing noun. For both of these cases, you can make a minor correction to clarify the sentence OR if you are unsure who the referent of the pronoun is, leave a comment asking the author to be more specific.

MASCULINE TERMINOLOGY

1) Other gendered terms can seem old-fashioned in modern writing. - In most cases there are alternatives available: policeman to police officer fireman to fire fighter 2) When 'man' is used to refer to humans in general, you can suggest to use 'humanity' instead.

PARAGRAPH COHERENCE & ORGANISATION

A coherent paragraph should communicate one main idea. Stylistically, there are some things you can do to ensure a document reads smoothly in this respect. Paragraph issues include: *Topic sentences *Paragraph length *Paragraph order

VARYING SENTENCE TYPES

A good sentence should include one main idea. If a sentence contains several clauses (such as a long compound sentence), it can probably be broken up. However, a well-written document should vary sentence length, since using too many short sentences can make writing seem choppy. STRINGY (COMPOUND) SENTENCES - this occurs when several clauses are strung together with conjunctions. This can make text difficult to follow. CHOPPINESS - when several short sentences are used successively, which can make writing seem overly simple or lacking in fluency. It can also obscure the relationships between individual sentences in a paragraph. Combining simple, complex and compound sentences in a document can make it more fluent and clarify how clauses are related.

WORD REPETITION - REPLACING 'ALSO'

ALSO - Used to provide ADDITIONAL INFORMATION and LINKING SENTENCES. Replacements include: *Moreover *Futhermore *In addition *Too *As well Sometimes it is used to mean 'in the same manner', can use instead: *likewise *similarly

WRITTEN STYLES - POPULAR NON FICTION

Although factual, popular non-fiction is very different journalistic or academic writing. It is normally simpler but it depends on the topic or intended audience. This may involve working closely with an author and/or publisher.

PARAGRAPH ORGANISATION

Although making changes to the overall structure of a document is usually beyond a proofreading remit, you may sometimes need to check that there is a coherent flow between paragraphs As well as using transitional words and phrases to show how paragraphs are related, information should also be presented in a coherent order rather than jumping between topics. You may need to change the order of paragraphs or leave a comment for the author regarding paragraph organisation.

WRITTEN TONE AND VOICE

An important aspect of editing and proofreading for style is gauging the tone of the document. You may also need to consider the extent to which the voice of the author (i.e. their individuality) is present in the text. The best way to proofread a document will depend heavily on whether the tone and voice fit its intended purpose and audience.

NOMINALISATION

An issue relating to redundancy is nominalisation. This occurs when a LONGER NOUN form is used in place of a VERB. (Using a noun PHRASE in place of a verb.) e.g. using 'bring about destruction' instead of 'destroy' BUT nominalisation can also be used to prevent repetition of verbs when they appear several times in succession. some style guides also recommend using it to achieve a more academic tone. As a result you should consider the context when deciding whether to correct nominalisations

AUTHORIAL VOICE

Another aspect of style is how the AUTHORIAL voice comes through in the writing. This refers to the personality and individuality of the author. In FORMAL BUSINESS or ACADEMIC writing, it is less common to have a strong authorial voice, as the norm is to aim for objectivity. In an OPINION or AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL , the author's voice might be essential to the tone of the document. You must be aware of the aware of the FORMALITY & PURPOSE of the piece when judging whether the authorial voice is appropriate. If you think it detracts from the tone of the document at any point, you may want to note this in a comment.

SENTENCE LENGTH & STRUCTURE

Another aspect of writing style to address is sentence length and structure - proofreading does not usually involve making big changes to sentences, but it may require checking that sentences are clear and concise. LENGTH - Long sentences have a place in writing, especially literature. However, long sentences can be difficult to follow. So, when proofreading, you may need to make sentences more concise to ensure clarity.

VOCABULARY

Another job of proofreaders is ensuring that the vocabulary used in a document is appropriate, especially when dealing with academic work or when the author's first language is not English. Ensuring that words are used correctly, also the complexity of the language used.

WORD VARIATION - REPLACING 'BECAUSE'

BECAUSE - Words and phrases to replace 'because' or 'because of' are: *As *Since *For *Due to * As a result of Some sentences can be rearranged to remove 'because' while retaining the overall meaning: 'I wear a tinfoil hat because the CIA are listening to my thoughts.' can change to: 'The CIA are listening to my thoughts, so I wear a tinfoil hat' The conjunction 'so' conveys the same replacement between clauses as 'because' did before.

CONVENTIONS USED TO ADD EMPHASIS

Be aware of the different conventions used to add emphasis, as the best one may depend on the TONE and PURPOSE of the document: ITALICS - Preferred method in formal writing, especially academic. it can also be common in less formal work. This emphasis should not be confused with use of italics for foreign words. If there is ambiguity over how italics have been used, it may be better to suggest another method of emphasis. BOLD - Can be used for headings, and subheadings, as well as for emphasis on words. italics are more common in academic or published words though. UNDERLINING - Should only be used if italics or bold have been used for other formatting reasons. ALL CAPS - Rarely used. Makes something seem loud or angry. So, sometimes it could be used in informal dialogue. Or it could be used for headings. The method of emphasis must be correct for the type of document and used consistently. if emphasis is overused, best to leave a comment., especially in formal writing.

REGIONAL VOCAULARY

British and OZ english has very similar vocabulary (excluding slang) But some cases, OZ uses US terminology and a few unique OZ words. THEREFORE double check any unfamilliar terms you encounter. EXAMPLES INCLUDE courgette/zucchini/zucchini lift/elevator/lift duvet/comforter/doona pepper/bell pepper/capsicum

WRITTEN STYLES - BUSINESS

Business writing is formal but usually simpler than academic writing. It is sometimes written from the point of view of the business. The tone and complexity of the language may depend on whom the document is designed for: e.g. a report written for an industry-savvy client will differ from a press release intended for wider public consumption.

WORD VARIATION

Consistent terminology is crucial for clarity, but excessive repetition can detract from the fluency of writing. So, proofreading may involve suggesting alternatives when a term is repeated. 'Due to Napoleon's ......, experts rate Napoleon ....' change to, 'Due to Napoleon's..., experts rate him ...' HOWEVER, sometimes repetition is used for clarity or rhetorical effect, so the key thing is judging when it is appropriate.

CREATIVE WRITING

Creative writing often uses elements of both formal and informal English. E.g. the story may stick to standard English for most of it but then feature non-standard grammar and colloquial terms in some parts such as dialogue. This can make proofreading challenging. Unless you work closely with the author etc, you should be cautious about making stylistic changes to creative writing. If something stands out as inconsistent or inappropriate, it is better to leave a note for the author instead.

SYNONYMS - EXCESSIVE COMPLEXITY - ISSUE

Excessively complex language can detract from the readability of a text. If this happens, leave a comment or change the sentence unless the author wants it to be obscure. When encountering both of these issues, you should correct or highlight these issues ALSO be aware of not making these mistakes yourself!

FORMAL ENGLISH

Formal sticks closely to the prescriptive rules of punctuation, grammar and spelling. Depending on the document, formal English may also require the use of complex academic or technical language, as well as avoiding contractions or colloquial terms . Formal writing strives for objectivity, especially in academic essays or business reports. Emotive language is generally avoided. so you must check that everything is correct and the language used is appropriate.

THE AUDIENCE

Gauging the style and tone of the document requires knowing its AUDIENCE. This will affect the language used and whether it would be formal or informal, simple or complex or emotive or subjective. The language used may also depend on the age of the audience and the level of English e.g. aiming at ESL readers. If you think the language is wrong for the audience, you should either make changes or leave a note for the author.

DESIGNING A STYLE SHEET

If you are doing a lot of work for one author and have not been given a style sheet, it is a good idea to design your own. It will give consistency between documents, and give a more coherent style to the work. Only create if it has been approved by the author and if you are doing a lot of work for them. typical items include: Formatting (e.g. titles, tables, and charts, use of italics) Punctuation and hyphenation Spelling and Capitalisation How numbers are written Use of abbreviations and acronyms Date and time formats Referencing styles

STYLE SHEETS

In addition to the major style guides, most organisations have an in-house style sheet that they expect authors, editors and proofreaders to use. They are less comprehensive than a full guide but they cover important factors such as: *Document formatting *Rules regarding grammar, punctuation, and spelling *Technical terminology and abbreviations common in the relevant field.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

Informal English is closer to spoken English. Depending on the document, it may incorporate colloquial language, ellipsis, or non-standard grammatical forms (e.g. sentence fragments). The language used is generally less technical. However, informality is a matter of degree: an article written for a general audience will be less formal than a scientific report, but it will still be more formal than an email to a friend. So a SEMI-FORMAL document would be written in complete, grammatical sentences and avoid slang, even if the language is fairly simple. it would not normally incorporate emojis but that could change!

REPHRASING SENTENCES

Making a long sentence shorter often involves rephrasing it, however the changes should be minimal. You can make substantial changes if the client has requested this and there is no risk of plagiarism. but if substantial edits are required, its best to highlight this in a comment for the author. SO - tweaking sentence structure to ensure clarity & concision is part of proofreading, but rewriting sentences completely is is usually overstepping the mark.

STYLE & EDITING

Making changes to the WRITTEN STYLE of a document to ensure it is suitable for its INTENDED AUDIENCE (e.g. simplifying vocabulary in a blog posted aimed at ESL readers) or PURPOSE (e.g. making sure commercial copy is punchy). NOTE - substantial changes should ONLY be made if the author has asked you to do this. if not, leave a note for the author.

REPLACING THE MALE PRONOUN

Male pronouns (he, him) were the defaults for discussing persons of unknow adgenda. WAYS TO CORRECT - HE OR SHE - replace 'he' with 'he or she'. Common in modern academic writing but it can make the sentence seem cluttered. So it isn't always appropriate. ALTERNATING PRONOUNS - not used a lot. can become confusing. Some style guides advise against it. GENDER-NEUTRAL PRONOUNS - Using ONE or YOU helps. However, ONE can seem old-fashioned and YOU is informal and best reserved for writing that is directed at the reader. REPHRASING - you can sometimes rephrase a sentence to remove the male pronoun. but only if it doesnt make the sentence awkward or confusing. THE SINGULAR 'THEY' - English does not have a gender-neutral third person pronoun. So the second-person plural pronoun 'THEY' has become a popular alternative instead. e.g. 'When someone makes a decision, they choose between multiple possibilities. Considered informal and some say ungrammatical, as it results in faulty parallelism: 'makes' - singular verb 'choose' - plural verb So the singular 'they' should only be used when it is appropriate. Sometimes you can change to a plural subject & verb instead: 'When people make a decision, they choose between multiple possibilities.'

PROOFREADING - MODERN

Modern freelance proofreading can include making minor stylistic changes, but this depends on the document type, e.g. university essays which cannot be changed substantially. THEREFORE, better to note significant stylistic issues in a comment than make the revisions yourself.

PURPOSE - TYPES

Most documents will do one or a mix of the following: EXPOSITION - A comprehensive explanation of something , such as an idea or theory. DESCRIPTION - Setting something out in detail, particularly to communicate an experience. PERSUASION - Trying to argue a point or convince the reader of something. NARRATIVE - Telling a story about a series of connected events. The degree to which a document tries to one or all or these will shape its purpose and, to some extent, the writing style the author should use.

WORD REPETITION - REPLACING 'BUT'

Normally a problem with longer words but it can also be a problem for short ones that have been excessively overused. BUT - A crucial term for expressing CONTRASTS and EXCEPTIONS. Other CONJUNCTIONS that can be used instead include: *Yet *Although *Though *Despite *Whereas Replacement ADVERBIALS for introducing a CONTRAST are: *However *Nevertheless *Conversely *In contrast N.B. - Some of these words might mean the sentence being revised slightly, so be careful as only minimal editing should be done.

WORKING WITHOUT A STYLE GUIDE

Often, there is no style guide or sheet given for you to work from (beyond maybe a referencing style for academic writing). When this happens, you must use your own judgement: Technical or academic work needs to be formal. For a novel - there is leeway for colloquial or non-standard terms. It is important to preserve the author's voice. General style guides can still be used by you for grammar, word usage, or how a document is formatted. But the priority should be clarity and consistency.

PADDING WORDS & unnecessary MODIFIERS

PADDING WORDS - frame a sentence without adding anything meaningful. UNNECESSARY MODIFIERS - are similar, since they modify a term without adding anything substantial to a sentence. Sometimes they are used for emphasis, or rhetorical reasons. however, they can usually be cut if it makes a sentence clearer or more concise, especially in formal writing.

EXAMPLES OF WORDINESS

REPETITION - repeating words or info in a sentence. This makes sentences longer and awkward to read. when the repeated word is not needed for a grammatical sentence, you can cut the word. REDUNDANCY - When a writer uses more words than necessary e.g. twelve midnight - you only need 'midnight'. Removing this kind of redundancy can boost the clarity of a sentence.

WORD REPETITION - REPLACING 'SAYS'

SAYS - This word can be said a lot when authors quote or paraphrase sources: Depending on the context, consider using the following alternatives: *states *notes *argues *suggests *claims Quotations can also be attributed to with phrases like: * According to *As reported by DIALOGUE IN FICTION - Stick to 'said' and 'says' consistently, as varying too much can be confusing.

REGIONAL STYLE GUIDES

Some guides are related to standard english dialects. These are useful when proofreading written by an author who uses a different regional dialect to you: Fowler's Modern English Usage ( British English) The Elements of Style (American English) The Cambridge Guide to Australian ENglish Usage (Australian English)

PASSIVE VOICE & ACTIVE VOICE

Some writers, especially students, use the PASSIVE voice to avoid writing in the first person. However, the ACTIVE VOICE is more concise in most situations. e.g. passive voice - 'The first Best Actress Oscar WAS WON by Janet Gaynor in 1929' it is a bit wordy and would be more concise by using the active voice: 'Janet Gaynor WON the first Best Actress Oscar in 1929. USING THE PASSIVE VOICE EFFECTIVELY - PASSIVE VOICE - is mainly used to focus on 'the thing being acted upon in a sentence' rather than the person or thing performing an action. Using the Oscar example with a passive voice emphasises the award rather than the actress who won it. 'The first Best Actress Oscar WAS WON by Janet Gaynor in 1929' This would be suitable if your client were writing about the history of the Oscars rather than the actress's career. The passive voice is also useful if the performer of an action is unknown or irrelevant to the sentence. In addition, the passive voice can be useful when using the first person (I or WE) detracts from the focus of the writing, but this is not usually necessary. if you come across passive voice being used, you must consider the context before deciding if you need to make a change, even if changing would make the sentence more concise.

EXAMPLES OF TRANSITIONAL WORDS & PHRASES

TO SIGNAL - SIMILARITY - likewise, similarly, in the same way CONTRAST/COMPARISON - however, nevertheless, in contrast, by comparison ADDITION - furthermore, moreover, additionally, equally important CAUSE or EFFECT - accordingly, as a result, consequently, therefore, thus CONCLUSION or SUMMARY - in brief, to summarise, in conclusion, finally, to sum up.

TOPIC SENTENCES & PARAGRAPH LENGTH

TOPIC SENTENCES - briefly set out the main idea that a paragraph will cover. Since topic sentences help ensure clarity, you may want to advise your clients to use them if they are missing from the work you are proofreading. LONG PARAGRAPHS - They can be difficult to follow, especially if several distinct points are made within a single paragraph. when editing a document you may need to add a line break if the paragraph is too long or leave a comment where you think a break should be added. Even if a long paragraph sticks to one main point, breaking it up into shorter paragraphs linked by transitional words can improve readability. especially for documents aimed at a wide audience, since large blocks of text can be off-putting. SHORT PARAGRAPHS - these can sometimes be combined. This depends on the type of document. In academic or formal writing, it would be unusual to have several short paragraphs covering the same idea. So you may need to remove line breaks if this occurs. In Informal writing, shorter paragraphs look better on the page. In fact, single-sentence paragraphs are common in online copy, since they are easier to read on screen. So you must consider the audience when deciding if paragraphs are too long or short. The key question is whether each paragraph fully develops its main point.

WRITTEN TONE - FORMAL AND INFORMAL ENGLISH

The most important distinction in written tone is between FORMAL and INFORMAL ENGLISH. The document style depends heavily on how formal the language and grammar are. This will then reflect the document's purpose and its intended audience.

WORDINESS

The primary cause of long sentences is wordiness - using more words than necessary to express a thought: e.g. 'People who study psychology professionally are interested in the ways humans act and think.' you can make more concise and change to: 'Psychologists are interested in human behaviour and thought.'

WRITTEN STYLES - NARRATIVE FICTION

The style depends heavily on the individual author and the intended audience: e.g. a short story for children will be completely different to a 100,000-word historical novel. Proofreading fiction may involve working closely with the author and/or publisher.

WRITTEN STYLE - WHAT IS IT?

The style of a written document should reflect its intended audience and purpose. When proofreading, this means ensuring a consistent writing style is used throughout, AND how you approach particular stylistic issues will depend on the document being edited.

WRITTEN STYLES - JOURNALISTIC

The tone of this writing (e.g. newspapers & magazines) will depend on the publication. e.g. broadsheets are usually more factual and analytical than tabloids. In all cases, the writing should be clear and descriptive.D

STYLE GUIDES

The written style often depends on the style guide used by an author. Normally have to follow a style guide when proofreading. they provide advice on all elements: FORMATTING, VOCABULARY, PUNCTUATION & REFERNCING if no style guide is advised to use then it's worth asking if there is one available.

OTHER STYLE GUIDES

There are other non academic style guides that are developed by specific institutions, news agencies, or publishers. Some are very technical and specific to their fields, such as legal style guides: OSCOLA (UK English) Bluebook and ALWD (US) AGLC (Australia) Others are more general and used by individuals and companies: 1) The Guardian Style Guide (used by the Guardian newspaper and other UK writers 2) The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook (used by many US journalists) 3) Style Manual: For Authors, Editors and Printers (published by the Australian Government) 4) The Oxford Style Manual (published and used by the University University Press)

OTHER BIASED LANGUAGE

This can include terms related to: nationality, disability, mental health, age and race. This can include using insensitive language e.g. using 'insane' instead of 'unreasonable' You may need to highlight biased language, maybe suggest alternative terms, but doing sensitively and not accusing the writer of wrong doing. An example of leaving a note is saying that 'unreasonable' is a more neutral term than 'insane' because the latter could be seen as 'insensitive'

WRITTEN STYLES - ONLINE COPY

This includes everything from blog posts to product descriptions, so the writing style will depend on the topic and intended audience. Online copy should be simple enough to be read by as wide an audience as possible. it may also be fairly informal.

WEAK LANGUAGE

This refers to descriptive terms that are too vague to offer useful information. An example is when the writer describes something as 'nice' without explaining what makes it so. whilst editing descriptive writing and you find weak language, you could leave a comment asking the author to provide more detail, but this depends on the document type. A proofreader DOES NOT provide feedback on content on university/academic essays!

WRITTEN STYLES - ACADEMIC

This should be clear, formal and analytical. It usually aims for an objective tone. The language used may be quite complex or technical. Typically, it will be written in accordance with university or publisher's style guide and will contain citations of other authors.

TRANSITIONAL WORDS & PHRASES

Transitional words and phrases clarify how sentences within a paragraph are related to one another. Proofreaders may therefore need to suggest or add transitional terms to ensure clarity. EXAMPLE - 'In the survey, 87% of people said that puppies are cute. Furthermore, 91% of respondents said that kittens are cute. However, 64% of people said that kittens are cuter than puppies. In this case, FURTHERMORE shows that the second sentence is an additional point, while HOWEVER shows that a new idea is being introduced (i.e. a direct comparison between kittens and puppies)

COMMON ACADEMIC STYLE GUIDES

Used by universities, academic journals, and publishers to ensure that authors write in a clear and consistent style. Examples include: 1) The Chicago Manual of Style 2) APA guide (The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) 3)MHRA guide (The Modern Humanities Research Association Style Guide) 4) MLA guide (The Modern Language Association Handbook) 5) AMA (The American Medical Association Manual of Style)

SYNONYMS - ELEGANT VARIATION - ISSUE

Using them to avoid repetition is good but it's possible to go too far: ELEGANT VARIATION - an ironic term for when writers vary words excessively, which can make writing difficult to follow. Important to not do this this FACTUAL WRITING - as it must have CLARITY & CONSISTENCY. Leave a comment for the author when they do this. suggest to only use 1 or 2 synonyms for a word.

VOCAB - ACADEMIC & TECHNICAL LANGUAGE

Vocab needs to reflect its intended audience. Technical language is often necessary in formal academic writing, but not in writing aimed at people who may not understand subject-specific terminology. Slang and colloquial terms, are best for informal writing, especially when aiming for a light and humorous tone. EDITING a document can involve noting or correcting inappropriate vocabulary. You might also suggest alternative terms in comments.

PROOFREADING - TRADITIONAL

When proofreading traditionally - the style is already set, so the proofreader should not make any stylistic changes. the job is to ensure the style of the document is CONSISTENT.

PURPOSE

When proofreading, it is helpful to know what the author is trying to achieve, as this lets you make changes based on the PURPOSE of the document. The key is letting the author know if a document seems to stray from its main purpose. e.g. leaving a comment if a document goes into excessive descriptive detail, as this will help to keep the writing focused.

EDITING AN ACADEMIC DOCUMENT FOR CORRECT VOCABULARY

You may need to make changes to the language in a document either because its too simplistic for technical writing or because it is too complex for a lay audience. If you are unfamiliar with any technical terms you you encounter while proofreading, make sure you look them up so you can tell whether they are used correctly.

GENDERED LANGUAGE

You need to be aware of inappropriate use of this - 2 common situations are: 1) Overwhelming use of male pronouns 2) The use of masculine terms instead of a gender-neutral alternative. its a matter of style, but gender inclusive language is generally preferred in modern writing. You should sensitively note instances where the client has used inappropriately gendered language and suggest alternatives.

REFERENCING STYLES

if a uni doesnt require a specific writing style, it will always require a specific referencing style for how to cite sources. CHICAGO MLA APA HARVARD

IMPORTANCE OF CLARITY

whilst style is an important part of writing, there can be stylistic variations between similar documents depending on authorial preferences. Therefore it is never more important than CLARITY. Proofreading should focus on making a document CLEAR and EASY TO READ for its intended audience. This includes: Ensuring titles are descriptive Terminology is appropriate That sentences are coherent So unless you are working on a very obscure piece of work such as a surrealist poem, your main priorities should always be CONSISTENCY and ensuring the work communicates its meaning CLEARLY.