STYLE GUIDE

Writing and editing

Numbers in tables: In tables, you can abbreviate the word ‘number’ to ‘no.’ in the singular form and ‘nos’ in the plural. Spell it out in prose, unless you are using it repeatedly.

One to ten should be written as words, numbers above ten should be written numerically.

Fewer than/more than: Use ‘fewer than’ when referring to people, numbers or objects. ‘Less than’ usually applies to quantities and sizes.

Fewer than 20 participants signed up to fundraise. She weighed less than 40 kilos.

Use ‘more than’ rather than ‘over’ when referring to something that can be counted.

MDC 2017 attracted more than 100,000 participants. David is over 180 centimeters tall.

Terminologybreast cancer: should never be capped, unless it is starting a sentence.

Mother’s Day Classic: All capped, use Mother’s Day Classic when referring to the event, Mother’s Day Classic Foundation when referring to the entity. MDC and MDCF are acceptable in the second reference.

Gender: Unless gender is relevant, always use gender-neutral words rather than gender-specific ones. For example, use ‘workforce’ instead of ‘manpower’, ‘artificial’ instead of ‘man made’, and ‘police officer’ instead of ‘policeman’.

Most occupational terms are already generic, so there is no need for qualifiers like ‘female doctor’, ‘male nurse’ or ‘actress’. Remember also that sexual preference is not a given, so don’t make assumptions. Unless you are sure, use ‘partner’ rather than a gender-specific term such as ‘boyfriend’ or ‘wife’.

Numbers

PunctuationCapitalisation: is governed by style rather than grammar. It is subject to fashion. In the seventeenth century, almost all nouns were capitalised. In the twenty-first century, we favour minimalism.

Remember these basic rules:

• Always use a capital letter to start a sentence.

• Always use a capital letter at the beginning of a proper noun. A proper noun is a specific person, place, or organisation.

• If you use a generic term in place of a proper noun, do not capitalise it, even if you are still referring to a specific person or organisation. For example, always capitalise ‘Government of Victoria’, but if you’re shortening the form to ‘the government’, use lowercase.

Spell out numbers: Always spell out numbers at the start of a sentence. If the number is cumbersome, re-write the sentence. Ninety-five people attended the convention.

Units of measurement: There should be no space between the number and its corresponding symbol. However, place a space between the number and an abbreviated unit of measurement. 180° 5 p. pp. 147–173 $347.00 18 mm 100 kph 8” x 10” 300 dpi

Percentages: Write ‘per cent’ as two separate words, but ‘percentage’ as one. If the number is a percentage, use a figure if it is over nine.

There was a 19 per cent increase in productivity.

Using commas: Use a comma with numbers over 999 for financial documents, over 9999 when referring to registrations. When the number goes into tens or hundreds of thousands, insert a comma before the thousand.

8475 (8,475 for financials) 87,998 763,485

When the number goes into the millions, write the amount in words and figures.

7.485 million 104 million

Numbers and symbols in tables: In tables, write numbers as figures and use symbols (such as ‘%’) rather than words. Do not put a space between the figure and its symbol, or between the figure and its unit of measurement.

25% $1097.00 $3m 8kw 1000km

However, if the symbol is used repeatedly in a column of a table, place the symbol in the top label to avoid repetition

and crowding.

Currency: Do not place a space between the currency indicator and the dollar sign.

A$100 AUD$100 US$6000

Time: There is no space between the number and the am/pm definer. Do not use full stops in ‘am’ or ‘pm’. Use a full stop rather than a colon to separate the minutes from the hours.

8am 10.30pm

To show a time span, use an unspaced en dash for simple spans and a spaced en dash for complex spans.

12–2pm 6.30 – 8.00pm 10am – 2pm

In prose, use either from/to or between/and in place of the en dash.

The lecture will be held from 9am to 10am on Wednesday. The seminar takes place between 10am and 4pm on Friday.

Dates: In prose, spell out the month in full, and use numerals for the date and year. Use the Australian convention of date-month-year, not the American convention of month-date-year. Do not add in th, st or nd when writing a date. It should be written as below.

14 February 1988

If you include the day of the week, place it first.

Tuesday 2 March 2004

There is no apostrophe in full-year (plural) dates.

1960s 1800s

But use an apostrophe to replace the missing prefix from decades in the twentieth century.

I grew up in the ‘60s.

Dates in tables: Use the following shortened forms, without full stops, in tables.

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat

Sentences: Keep your average sentence length short.

Sentence structureYour average sentence length should be 15 words or fewer. This doesn’t mean no sentence should be over 15 words – variety in sentence length creates rhythm and interest. But remember, short sentences are easier for the reader to absorb. Long sentences quickly become confusing.

Keep to one or two clauses per sentence: Don’t add lengthy sub-clauses between the main subject and verb, or the verb and object. This vision statement, for example, is too convoluted:

The Mother’s Day Classic aims to present events of a world class quality while at the same time raising funds for breast cancer research, in an effort to improve the lives of those diagnosed with breast cancer, and give those who enter the chance to fundraise while associating with the Mother’s Day Classic.

Instead, write something like:

The Mother’s Day Classic aims to raise funds for breast cancer research. We do this by providing over 100 events nationwide on Mother’s Day providing a chance for people to fundraise and pay homage to loved ones.

Know what you are trying to say: A lot of writing lacks a clear goal. If you’re not sure of what you’re trying to say, your reader won’t know either.

When writing or reviewing content, list the important things you need to say. Check your written content against this list, and remove anything that doesn’t need to be there. Stick to the point.

Be concise: Cut all unnecessary words, phrases and sentences.

When we receive your email, we will be in touch to ascertain any further details we require to enable us to make sure you have entered the correct event you wish to attend. Once we have confirmed that you have entered the desired event we will make sure you are provided with all the additional information you required to make your fundraising a success, helping you reach your fundraising goal.

Be ruthless. Instead, write:

When we receive your email we will enter you in your desired race; you will then receive;

• confirmation of event

• fundraising tips

• ongoing support to ensure you meet your goals.

Visual style

Fonts: All communications including letters, emails and powerpoints should use the Calibri font. Consistancy is key.

Colours: Black is a good all-purpose colour for text in documents. If you wish to use colour in text, for example in headings and sub-headings, please use the following brand colours.

C 100 M 57 Y 0 K 2

R 0 G 103 B 177

C 0 M 24 Y 94 K 0

R 255 G 196 B 37

C 16 M 96 Y 30 K 0

R 207 G 45 B 113

Logo Usage: The following forms of the MDC logo are acceptable for use:

The following forms of the MDC logo are NOT acceptable for use:

Stretched/ not in proportion Missing ‘Women in Super’ Drop Shadow