As editor of Computers In Business, I'm often pitched articles from company heads, consultants and freelancers.
Sometimes, the topic is relevant. Sometimes it isn't. But whoever is writing the article can give themselves an instant boost by knowing and following the 'style' rules that we have. (A newspaper's 'style guide' is the particular collection of rules that it employs in the way it presents its articles. For example, whereas the Irish Times gives men a title ('Mr'), the Sunday Business Post does not.)
So for anyone thinking of pitching a piece to Computers In Business, here are a few simple style rules to follow.
1. Keep sentences short
No sentence should be more than 25 words long, save in exceptional circumstances. Or in cases of a completely necessary quotation that cannot be truncated. Sentences over 25 words are unwieldy and difficult to read. As such, they are liable to be cut from the piece.
2. Banned phrases
There are many ‘descriptive’ or ‘prosaic’ terms that are unsuitable to certain business articles. These include the addition of terms such as "of course", "essentially", "in a sense" and "in fact". These are flowery terms that detract from the clarity of the article, so please avoid them.
3. Short-cuts not to be used
Don't use "etc" "eg" "ie". Just use a full stop and start the next sentence with "For example".
4. Quotes
Keep quotes to a maximum of three or four lines. When returning to a quoted speaker, identify who the speaker is again. Do not assume the reader remembers who you are quoting.
5. Abbreviations and acronyms: the difference
-- Do not use little-known abbreviations or acronyms without spelling them out first
-- If an abbreviation can be pronounced as a word (eg Vat), it is an acronym and takes small letters after a capital letter. If it can’t be pronounced as a word (eg PRSI), it is an abbreviation and takes all capitals.
6. The scourge of American spellings
An organisation cannot be an organization. So please do not submit words using US spellings, particularly those that substitute ‘z’ for ‘s’. Please adjust spell-checking software to reflect this.
Common mistakes and rules
1. All job descriptions are lower case (managing director, chief executive, etc), except for Taoiseach, Tanaiste
2. It should always be 'the government', not 'government' (except in headlines)
3. The sentences, phrases and clauses coming after colons should begin with a lower case letter.
4. Companies are always singular. Even if the company is called Taylor Brothers or Curran & Sons, it is still treated as a singular noun. (There are exceptions, but this is the general rule.)
5. The state and the government are both lower case.
6. Do not use exclamation marks or "…"
7. When quoting someone, always use the past tense. Always use "said". Never use "commented", "added", "exclaimed", "pointed out" or anything else. Always use "said".
