There are many ways of writing text for formal publications and publicity material but most organisations stick to a set of guidelines called called a "House Style".
Each organistain writes or adopts their own House Style (in the same way a school adopts a specific school uniform). GBC has never had an official House Style but many years ago I copied a House Style from a publisher I was working for and modified it slightly. I use it when writing for theis website and the Greenford Baptict Church Magazine. If you want to use it when you write text for GBC publications you are welcome to follow it (or at lease follow some of it).
We ask that the following conventions are followed when submitted articles for the Church Magazine, Church website and the weekly CHURCH NEWS. These conventions are based on standards adopted by many professional authors and publishing houses.
Each organistain writes or adopts their own House Style (in the same way a school adopts a specific school uniform). GBC has never had an official House Style but many years ago I copied a House Style from a publisher I was working for and modified it slightly. I use it when writing for theis website and the Greenford Baptict Church Magazine. If you want to use it when you write text for GBC publications you are welcome to follow it (or at lease follow some of it).
We ask that the following conventions are followed when submitted articles for the Church Magazine, Church website and the weekly CHURCH NEWS. These conventions are based on standards adopted by many professional authors and publishing houses.
General Exceptions
Articles that are written in a "character" or "ethnic" style and also testimonies and poems would not be expected to conform to the House Style.Paragraphs
Paragraphs should never be indented (with spaces or tabs at the beginning of the first line). This was the style a long time ago when mechanical typewriters were popular.Titles
Titles should always be supplied with articles that are submitted and they should be written in Title Case, not CAPITALSByline (who it's written by)
Main titles should be followed by a byline (the author's name)Bullets Points and Ordered Lists
Each line written in bullet point lists or ordered (numbered) lists may start with a lower case letter and have no full stop at the end. Bullet point/ordered lists containing more then sentences per line are the exception to this rule.Spaces
Two or more spaces should not be inserted after a full stop or other punctuation mark. This was the style a long time ago when mechanical typewriters were popular. These days only a single space should be used between sentences.Emphasis on Words
Do not use underlines or make all letters in a word capital or bold, instead make the emphasis by using italics.Words Per Page
An A5 Church Magazine page consist of approx 275 words. Please try and keep your word count to multiples of half of this, i.e. half page135 words, one page 275 words, one and a half pages 410 words, two pages 550 words etc.Numbers
Numbers should be written in the following format:- Numbers between one and ten should be spelled out in letters (unless you are writing a shopping lists or perhaps a house addresses). Numbers over 10 should be written in numbers. An example is: In the first week (not the 1st week). year three children will visit 20 homes ranging from 9 to 28 High Road.
Dates and times
Dates and times should be written in the following format:- for use in numbered lists and bullet points: "on 14 Jan 2002 at 2.00pm (or from 2.00pm to 4.00pm)"
- for use in sentences: "Monday 14 January 2002 at 2.00pm (or 12 noon)"
- using the above format, you need not write "st", "nd", "rd", "th" after the numerical part of the date, eg. 14th January
Days
Days should be written:- Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun (but only in tables or lists) – keep to three letter abbreviations - especially don't mix three with four letter abreviations, e.g Tue and Weds
- They com on Monday and Tuesday. (in sentences always write in full)
Phone numbers
Phone numbers should be written as follows:- London: 020 8123 4567
- Rest of UK: 01234 56789
- Foreign: Including full country dialing code e.g.: 00 35724 816206
Groups
Single groups of people should be referred to in the singular, e.g. the Committee said (not says), the church is (not are)Dashes
- A long dash known as an m dash: " — " may be used between words in place of a comma. This is not to be confused with normal hyphenated words, e.g. "It is a man-eater"
- A shorter dash called an en dash" – " (longer than an ordinary dash "-").
- Please note that for non-hyphenated words there should be a space either side of the dash, e.g. "...so I will say it again – for those who didn't hear me – lock the door after you"
Quotations
Partial quotations should be preceded by three dots and/or followed by four dots to represent missing text, e.g. "He continued ...I have pleasure in announcing today.... then he stopped mid-sentence"Editor's extra words
The Editor may insert additional words, to clarify what is being said. They should be surrounded by square brackets, e.g. "...so [later on] they can stand by them selves."Email and web addresses
- Email and web addresses should always be written in lower case.
- For web addresses (also known as URLs) you should never prefix them with http:// and or www. So, don't write http://www.gbc.org.uk or www.gbc.org.uk, just write gbc.org.uk.
Initials
Initials should not be separated by full stops, i.e. write RSPB, not R.S.P.B. and Mr AEL Wilson, not Mr A.E.L.WilsonFile Types
Text can be written in any popular and widely available word processor or text editor, such as Microsoft Word or Word Pad. Files should be saved in .doc, docx, .rtf or .txt file format.Submitting Text
- Articles for the Church Magazine should be emailed/given to the Church Magazine Editor
- For the website they should be given to the WebAuthor.
- Text should not be typed directly into the body of an email, because this inserts line-breaks (paragraphs) at the end of each line. Files should be attached to your email.
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