Voice and style
Rhythm, tone, first person
30 articles tagged voice and style, drawn from across the archive.
A Reading List for Journalists
Simon kept a shelf of books near his desk and used to say that most young journalists would do better to read those books once...
Active vs Passive Voice
Active / passive Like you, a number of students remain confused about active voice and passive voice. Here's a re-statement about...
Adjectives: A Trap for New Writers
Adjectives a trap Do not depend on adjectives, use strong verbs. This is still one of the best pieces of advice I was given early...
Brevity: Every Word Must Earn Its Place
Brevity Sometimes you use unnecessary words. BREVITY is one of the basic elements of good writing. You need to go over your work...
Capitals
Capital letters Some directions to my students on capitals: ?I would ask that you don't write in ALL CAPITALS. First of all it...
Data Journalism: A Working Introduction
Simon wrote more than one factsheet warning young reporters against 'the big number.' A sentence like 'more than a million...
Dates
You must write dates correctly. I had students who thought it amusing to write dates like this: Monday, the 11th day of the month...
Elmore Leonard's Rules: Hooptedoodle
Easy on the adverbs, exclamation points and especially hooptedoodle By ELMORE LEONARD Elmore Leonard's Rules of Writing 1170...
First person
First person, second person, third person. Also called 'point of view.' What does it mean? Here is a brief definition. If you...
Full Stops: Keep It Simple
The fullstop I thought you might benefit from some information on the fullstop (or periods or dot, as the Americans call it)...
Grammar-books, internet
Regarding grammar books. I can recommend one small book that will answer most of your questions: The Plain English Guide by...
Handwriting
Handwriting . . . sorry, but your handwriting is nearly as bad as mine. Please don't handwrite ANYTHING. Type everything, even...
Hemingway
You couldn't find the Hemingway quote. These tutorials have been reprinted several times, but you should find it on page 18 of...
Hilary Doling: A Travel Writing Masterclass
Published in the travel section of The (Sydney) Sun-Herald and reprinted with permission This article was written by the...
Importance of happenings quotes anecdotes
Importance of happenings, quotes and examples (Adjectives are a trap) Allow me to explain the statement: 'Do not depend on...
Interviews, question & answer
I'm against Q&As I recommend against writing an interview as a Q & A. Most publications are not interested in such a style. Do...
Invoice Form: An Example
This is a rough guide for how your invoice should look. Important: you must write 'Tax Invoice' at the top if you have an ABN...
Names - of people
NAMES . . . the first time you mention a person's name, use their first (given) name AND then their surname (or family name)...
PR-style writing
Journalism is not PR. In public relations the PR person writes a media release extolling the virtues of the product or service...
Show, Don't Tell
Show don't tell You may be are having some trouble in your writing, using inadequate 'telling' rather than powerful 'showing'...
Simon Says
Simon's voice, when he was teaching, was short sentences. Short paragraphs. Sharp rules. The kind of advice he would fire down...
Simon Townsend's Biography
Biography updated January 2009 Born to be a journo Simon Townsend's personal and professional biography By G R Hart Simon...
Spelling Traps for Australian Journalists
Australian English sits between British and American conventions, closer to the British but with its own character. A working...
Style Guides
Style guides, sometimes called editorial guidelines. The truth is today, few publications give out style guides. I believe they...
The Freelancer's Business Guide
A freelance journalist is running a business. It is a very small business, usually a one-person business, often not incorporated...
The Pen Picture
I think you should give your readers a pen picture of *. Here's my standard advice on this important part of good writing. For a...
The Weight of Words
Pinned down by the weight of words Reprinted with kind permission of the author and The Sydney Morning Herald The new public...
Very
What's the difference between '?' and 'very?'? You're using that pesky word 'very'. 'Very' is a word to be used sparingly, in...
When to Use Italics
Italics Italic type slopes to the right, like this. As opposed to these words which are in bold. These words are in 'regular'. If...
Who or that
You need to know the subtle difference between who and that. The best explanation I've read is in The New York Public Library...