Describe your reader

You wouldn’t bother a financial advisor with questions about pocket money, and you wouldn’t bore a five-year-old with words like ‘inflation’ and ‘dividends’. A light-hearted pun is fine for an internal newsletter, but not so fitting in an official e-mail to your customers. I think you see where we’re going here: defining your target audience is crucial when creating your style guide. After all, your readers determine how and what you write. Should you use a formal tone of voice or a more casual one? Complex sentences filled with specialised jargon and bureaucratic language, or something shorter and snappier? Can you leave certain foreign words untranslated, or is that a no-go?

Describe your stereotypical reader in your guide and keep them in mind while you write. Picture them sitting next to you, reading over your shoulder. Are there any words or sentences they might stumble over? Any paragraphs that might bore them? Anything they’d like to learn more about?

Set your goal

Target audience? Check. The next step is to decide what you want to do. Is your goal to inform? Then keep your words clear and to the point. Get to the heart of the matter, as we like to say. Keep it simple and straightforward with no unnecessary fluff. If you want to convince your reader to do something, feel free to add some persuasive adjectives. Superlatives and witty remarks can help your message stick. Decide on a specific goal you want to achieve with your text, then tailor your words, sentences, and structure accordingly.

Be consistent

Nothing is more frustrating than inconsistent time formats. ‘The expo is open from 08.30 to 16:30 and the artist will drop by at 9AM for a brief explanation.’ It’s enough to make our toes curl. Another classic: ‘Emperor Augustus lived from 63 bce to 14 AD.’

Mistakes like these are easy to avoid. Set concrete rules for these formats in your style guide and apply them consistently. It looks more professional and prevents confusion down the line. The same goes for job titles (general director or General Director), ordinal numbers (third, 3rd or 3^rd), dates, and price formats.

Set language rules

Online dictionaries like Van Dale and woordenlijst.org are your best friends when it comes to (Dutch) spelling and grammar. That said, feel free to make your own language choices – as long as they fit within the generally accepted rules of the language you’re using. Do you prefer single or double quotation marks? Is there a specific word you want to ban from all corporate communication in lieu of something else? Are certain foreign words so commonly used in your company you don’t need italics? Go for it. Do whatever you think is best for your business. Just remember: whatever you do, be consistent. Make sure everyone knows the rules and uses them in all forms of communication.

Set rules for your logo and tagline

If you’ve ever received an e-mail from one of our team members, you’ve probably noticed the ‘zinnige groeten’ at the end. Not to mention our logo on full display: black letters on a white or transparent background.  That’s our house style. Our corporate calling card. Our ‘hello, this is us.’ Our ‘hi, how do you do?’ Recognisable, familiar, and original. Setting rules for using your logo, tagline, and company name – including all variations thereof – is a must in any style guide. It helps streamline all corporate communication, without exception. Consistent use of your logo in your e-mails and on your website will also help potential customers recognise you. They’ll know straight away they’ve come to the right place.

Speaking of being in the right place: if you have any questions about creating your own style guide, head to Leopoldplein for some expert guidance (coffee and a tasty treat included)! Our wordsmiths would be happy to brainstorm about your textual identity. We’re just an e-mail, a phone call, or an office visit away.

Het bericht Five must-haves in your editorial style guide verscheen eerst op ZINNIG.

ZINNIG is a boutique text agency. Our team of dedicated copywriters explore the far reaches of their vocabulary every day in search of the perfect turn of phrase for your company story. We fill your blank page with titillating texts from scratch. Or we rewrite existing ones. In that case, we toss everything into a blender and rework the ingredients to create easy-to-digest copy packed with smooth sentences.  The result gets checked and double-checked, always. All of the copy we create passes through at least two pairs of writing hands: from copywriter to final editor. Most also finds its way to a third quality control expert (or kwaller, as we like to call them), who checks them for structure and content. In short: we write, cut, rewrite, edit and proofread. Every word, every sentence, every section.

Typos, slip-ups, and the urge to over-edit

Typos are sneaky little rascals that sometimes slip through the cracks. These cheeky mischief-makers can evade even the most critical of eyes. Spelling mistakes and typos (‘little devils’, as we like to call them) can be a real pain in the ass. Sometimes they’re so subtle, you don’t even notice them. Especially in your own writing. And that can lead to some seriously embarrassing situations. Like a butcher selling bonerless chicken. Some spelling mistakes and typos aren’t just embarrassing – they can really confuse your reader. For example, a ‘man eating shark’ is very different from a ‘man-eating shark’. And when you ‘book a flight’, you’ve reserved a trip, but a ‘booked flight’ means the plane’s already full. Mistakes come in many shapes and sizes, and often lie in the details, but avoiding them is always best.

Editors have a sixth sense for sneaky spelling errors and know every rule in the book – the dictionary, that is. They tidy up misspelled verbs and inaccuracies, and keep an eye out for stiff archaisms and regional quirks. The end result: a text free from cringe-worthy spelling errors and messy typos. A text in which every letter of every word has been checked and rechecked.

Muddled phrases, grammar gaffes, and clunky word order

Editors also dive in at the sentence level. Misused expressions (like ‘for all intensive purposes’ and ‘I could care less’) are expertly removed. Is the proverbial ‘penny’ starting to ‘ring a bell’? We’re talking about contaminants: mashups of similar expressions that result in something … well, wrong. The bad news? Many of these are so common, they’re hard to spot. Think: ‘nip it in the butt’ instead of ‘nip it in the bud’. The good news? As language freaks, we’re more than happy to clean up your copy! We untangle sentences, fix grammar fails, rearrange clunky syntax, and free your writing from passive traps. Then we sprinkle in commas, ellipses and em-dashes where they belong and voilà: your sentences are clean and easy to read!

Murky messages, inconsistencies, and style slips

A good editor takes a step back to see the full picture. A bird’s eye view. Top-down, the whole thing. Because a strong text is more than just a string of error-free sentences. It works, headline to footnote.  It has personality and leaves an impression. The message is clear, the style suits the audience, and the structure guides the reader smoothly to the final punctuation mark. More importantly: it flows. There are no distracting repetitions or clunky turns of phrase.

Want your newsletter, blog post, testimonial, or social media caption to pack a punch? Get in touch, and we’ll fine-tune your text until it fits. From tone of voice and structure to consistency and cohesion. With a deep understanding of language and writing, we fully immerse ourselves in the topic to get to the essence. We then do one final check (or kwalletje, remember?) to dot the i’s and cross the t’s for a flawless finish. On every level.

Need a sharp-eyed editor to polish your text and perfect your style? You know where to find us.

Het bericht Why editing matters verscheen eerst op ZINNIG.

And yet, ‘language and dogs’ doesn’t quite cover my typical workday. It would take a lot more words to describe my first two months at ZINNIG. From our breathtaking office view over Hasselt to the thoughtful ‘how’s it going’ messages. From the near-death experience of my first boxing class (just terribly out of shape, that’s all) to the very real struggle of putting together an IKEA cabinet. Despite our rich vocabulary here at ZINNIG, we’re surprisingly unfamiliar with words like ‘boredom’.

Fresh talent from West Flanders

Have I learned a lot these past few months? Absolutely! For one, I learned that I can’t escape the occasional West Flanders joke, no matter where I go. And that my colleagues have the uncanny ability to guess the year a song came out (a skill I discovered while playing Hitster at lunch). When they confidently shout ‘1992!’, I feel like the rookie in the room. My recent literature classes are still fresh in my mind, and it feels like I graduated just yesterday, instead of three months ago. At 23, I’m the youngest person in the office, if you don’t count the dog, of course.

But that’s okay. Under the expert guidance of my five fellow zinspelers (meaning-makers), I get all the tips and tricks I need. With a friendly nudge and a pat on the back, they send me off into the world (sometimes literally, to Izegem!) to stretch my creative muscles. From blog posts about serious topics to fun lifestyle pieces, and from social media content to real estate copy and interviews. For the length of one full article, I get to play the expert in all sorts of things.

Truly grateful

When one of my articles shows up online or I have the print version in hand, I feel like I’m in the right place. I wrote this. This is my text. These are my words, in my order, on paper. That sense of pride and that rush of confidence – I wonder if I’ll ever get used to it. I’m so proud of myself for following my love of language and literature five years ago. And I’m incredibly grateful to Evi and Hilde for all the opportunities they’ve given me. The job ad drew me in and the warm welcome convinced me to make the move to Limburg. Though I’ll admit, the incredible coffee machine may have helped seal the deal…

Het bericht Two well-versed months verscheen eerst op ZINNIG.