Hints on Writing Style for Usenet

History (1997):

I first wrote this essay as a posting to a newsgroup way back in the early 80s, when I was a PhD student at Georgia Tech. I don't even remember what newsgroup, or exactly when. I was simply trying to be helpful to a large wave of newcomers to the net by passing on some wisdom that those of us who had been on the net for awhile already had. The primary point was that writing is different on the net.

This was about the time the net was growing from around 50 sites to several hundred sites. Thus, the number of new users was increasing dramatically.

It seemed to be well received in its initial posting, and for a time many usenet posters referred to this essay, and criticized other posters for not following these suggestions. Several months after posting this, I was surprised to get a request to include this as a regular posting to the "news.announce.newusers" newsgroup. Of course, I was honored, and immediately said yes. I am still surprised that after 15 years, this article still appears regularly in that newsgroup!

It has also been referenced in books (I have "Unix Papers for Unix Developers and Power Users", edited by Mitchell Waite, on my shelf), and has appeared in at least two campus manuals for students. Unfortunately, I haven't kept careful track of the references and reprints -- I never expected this to have staying power! Of course, the most surprising thing has been the proliferation of this essay on the web. A casual search through the web (using Alta Vista, 3/6/97) shows the following eleven references. I have seen at least two more that do not have my name attached (which means I couldn't locate them in the search).

http://www.netannounce.org/news.announce.newusers www.uno.edu/~ucc/webfyi3.HTML www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/proc_foot.HTML sasun4.epfl.ch/News/Document/Hints_on_writing_style_for_usenet.HTML www.tezcat.com/~abbyfg/faq/writing-style.HTML fims-terawhiti.massey.ac.nz/computer/usenet/style.guide.HTML www.mug.com/help/usenet_writing.HTML www.up.ac.za/about/faq/faquse/usehints.HTML www.guinet.com/docs/resources/hintsonwritingstyleforusenet.HTML-ssi www.dejanews.com/help/dnusenet_4.HTML www.landfield.com/faqs/usenet/writing-style/part1 ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/writing-style/part1 ftp:rtfm.mit.edu

In addition, I noted a number of places on the web where this essay is referenced:

www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/csoc/vcommons.htm www.csc.fi/molbio/una/unapost.messages/45.HTML immwww.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bioguide/end.HTML web.citi2.fr/bioguide/biblio.HTML atc.atccu.chula.ac.th/doc/bioguide/biblio

Because this essay was posted to a moderated newsgroup, it has also become associated with two other individuals. In some of the above references, one or both of them are incorrectly listed as authors.

Update, 2002: I had a discussion about this article with my wife and we decided to do a search with Google. We found 150 references, the bulk of which are archived copies, but also found half a dozen citations in research papers about the web and translations in Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Macedonian, German, Swedish, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

I am very happy to have this article distributed as widely as possible (in 1984 I did not imagine how widely the web would make such distribution possible!). I only ask that my name be included as part of the article. Also, if you see a version without my name, or with other authors incorrectly listed, please let me know so I can try to correct the mistake.

The complete original essay is below . . .

I would like to take a moment to share some of my knowledge of writing style. If you read the suggestions below, remember: it's easy to agree that they make sense but it's much harder to apply them.

References:

Cunningham and Pearsall, "How to Write For the World of Work"
Strunk & White, "Elements of Style"

The above references are both excellent books. Cunningham is a standard in tech writing classes and won an award for the best tech writing book from the Association for Teaching of Technical Writing. I was lucky enough to take a class from him as an undergraduate. Strunk is a standard in college composition classes. Other ideas here come from my own experience on the net and hints from other people.

This is a "long article." The rest of it is simply a list of pointers.

Writing style:

Write *below* the readers' reading level. The avg. person in the US reads at a 5th grade level (11 years of age). The avg. professional reads at about the 12th grade level (18 years of age).
Keep paragraphs short and sweet. Keep sentences shorter and sweeter. This means "concise," not cryptic.
White space is not wasted space -- it greatly improves clarity. A blank line only adds a byte to the article length, so don't be stingy if it will help make your meaning clearer.
Pick your words carefully. Writing with precision is as important here as it is in any other kind of discourse. Consider carefully whether what you have written can be misinterpreted, and whether that is something you wish to have happen.
People can only grasp about seven things at once. This means ideas in a paragraph, major sections, etc.
Avoid abbreviations and acronyms, if possible, and define the ones you use.
There are several variations on any one sentence. A passive, questioning or negative sentence takes longer to read.
"Cute" misspellings are difficult to read, especially if the reader is not fluent in the language involved.

Net style:

Subtlety is not communicated well in written form -- especially over a computer. Remember, most people who will read your posting do not know you.
The above applies to humor as well. (rec.humor, of course, not included.) Smileys :-), frowns :-(, winks ;-) can sometimes avoid confusion.
When being especially "flame-boyant", I find it helpful to go to the bathroom before actually sending. Then, I often change the tone considerably. :-) Take a break before posting something in anger or that might hurt or anger others.
Subject lines should be used very carefully. How much time have you wasted reading articles with a misleading subject line? The "Subject:" header line can be edited in all the various posting programs (as can the "Distribution:", "Newsgroups:" and "Followup-To:" header lines).
References need to be made. When you answer mail, you have the original message fresh in your mind. When I receive your answer, I don't.
Do not include the entire article that you are replying to. Cut down the part that you include to the absolute minimum needed to provide context to your reply.
It's *much* easier to read a mixture of upper and lower case letters.
Leaving out articles (such as "the," "a," "an," etc.) for "brevity" mangles the meaning of your sentences and takes longer to read. It saves you time at the expense of your reader.
Be careful of contextual meanings of words. For instance, I used "articles" just now. In the context of netnews, it has a different meaning than I intended.
Make an effort to spell words correctly. Obvious misspellings are jarring and distract the reader. Every news posting program allows you to edit your article before posting, and most systems have some kind of spelling checker program that you can use on your article.
If your article goes over one screenful, use subheadings to organize it. Numbering your paragraphs is rarely helpful.
Just before you post your article, re-read it. This will ensure that you actually wrote what you intended to write.
Remember - this is an international network.
Remember - your current or future employers may be reading your articles. So might your spouse, neighbors, children, and others who will long-remember your gaffes.

Enough said.

These suggestions are all easily supported by arguments and research. There's a lot more to say, but....