Writing Style Guide
- Catherine Cai
- Kristen Emiko Shiozaki (Deactivated)
How to Use This Guide
Go to “Summary of Mediums and Corresponding Usage”, find the medium you are using and review the guidelines. If you’re unsure of what the guidelines mean, go to the corresponding definitions in this page.
Write your content.
Meet with a member on business to review the content and revise if necessary.
Message <social media/content leads> to have the post/content verified and posted.
Definitions
Voice
Voice describes the style of the writing and expresses the tone
Perspective: this describes the usage of first-person or third-person point of view in writing. In our usage of a first-person perspective, we will be using plural pronouns (e.g. “we”), and in the usage of a third-person perspective, we will use “Midnight Sun” or variations in describing our team.
Tone
The tone of a piece is the attitude of the writing towards an audience or subject. As we generate content through a variety of forms, tone is necessary to appropriately target the correct audience. Therefore, your choice of words and attitude in writing dictates the type of tone, whether it is formal or informal, upbeat or serious.
Style Guide
In a highly technical field, it is important to tailor our writing in correspondence to a variety of audiences, but a general rule of thumb is to avoid the usage of field-specific terms (also known as jargon) in writing. The writing should take a form where the audience is given context to the type of work and its specifics while keeping the reader engaged.
Optimizing for SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a collection of small changes and add improvements in search results performance on a variety of search engines, such as Google, Bing, etc.
This is more significant in the content we post online, such as articles, blogs, social media, etc.
Content Types
Blog
Social Media
Whitepapers
Reports
Emails
Videos (Scripts)
Summary of Mediums and Corresponding Usage (Look here first)
The below table summarizes the use cases of the various mediums we post publicly:
Medium | Description | Perspective | Tone | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Blog | A form of written content that is posted on Medium (and featured on social media outlets). These are typically longer posts about aspects of the team, progress, technical descriptions, etc. | 1st Person, plural | Semi-formal: Emphasis on engaging an audience and conveying information. |
|
Social Media Post | These are short posts, that include that are publicly displayed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. These are typically team updates, holiday/observances acknowledgment, and public messages. | 1st Person, plural | Tone is dependent on situation, but is typically upbeat and engaging. | Exception: Member Spotlights should be in 1st person singular. |
Whitepapers | These are reports or guides that concisely inform readers about a complex, or highly technical topic with the goal to provide readers an understanding of the issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. | 3rd Person | Formal and concise. This is typically sent to sponsors. |
|
Reports | These are documents that presents information, typically a topic or process in-depth, to a specified reader or audience. | 3rd Person | Formal: avoid the use of contractions, | Akin to a research paper: exploration, experimentation and analysis to obtain a conclusion. |
Emails | Communication medium between different individuals. | 1st Person Singular when referring to yourself as a point of contact. Plural when referring to the team. | Generally: Semi-formal Sponsors: Formal/Flexible
|
|
Do’s and Don’t’s
Do:
Be informative and detailed in any form of medium. Be conscious of which medium to determine the level of detail required.
Follow the guidelines for each of the mediums listed above. In the cases where you do not need to be formal, you can still add personal flair or styles.
Don’t:
Use contractions. The only exception is in social media.
Use jargon and technical language that is not explained. Instead, provide a brief definition or explanation in the report/whitepaper/blog as appropriate.
Examples
Temporary List of examples:
Report
Whitepaper
Blog
Social Media