Elements of E-Text Style Version 1.0 9 August 1993 This file should be named ESTYLE10.TXT or estyle10.txt. Copyright (c) 1993 by John E. Goodwin. All Rights Reserved. You may make and distribute verbatim copies of this work for non- commercial purposes using any means, provided this copyright notice is included in all such copies. Contact: John E. Goodwin P.O. Box 6022 St. Charles, IL 60174 jegoodwin@delphi.com [John Goodwin is available to consult, write, and teach courses on E- text issues and Internetworking] Abstract: This manual discusses how to use electronic text (E-text) as a communications medium distinct from the print media. The manual is written in a non-technical style, such as a humanist-of-little-brain might enjoy reading. o You can learn how to write effective E-text for personal, business, and scholarly communication. o It includes sections on preparing forms and texts for electronic response and on writing effective and business-like E-mail letters. o There is a brief section on Standard Generalized Markup Language, a coding standard of interest to humanists. Just to prove how non-technical it all is, here is an exceptional lapse into technical jargon, in case you know what the Internet and FTP archives are: This work is a companion volume to _E-Mail 101_, available free as ftp://mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu:/etext/etext93/email025.txt. Elements of E-Text Style =Preface= An Apology for E-Text =Part I= Writing for an E-Text Audience =Part II= Specific Differences of Style and Mechanics =Part III= A Very Brief Style Manual =Appendix A= Technical Details: Relationship to SGML and TEI =Table I= Full Table of Contents (go to very end of this file) <Preface> This work grew out of my earlier course notes published under the title _EMAIL 101_. It was originally projected to be a three chapter section concerning the special needs of writers who wished their works to be transportable by the electronic networks. The chapters were not included in the original release as they existed only in outline form. Over the course of Summer 1993 I gradually came to realize that E-text was a communication medium in its own right, with its own needs and conventions, its own strengths and weaknesses, and not merely the bastard child of the print medium. Consequently, many questions of style, long ago settled for print media and fixed into rules in style manuals, needed to be re-examined in light of the new medium. Since, it seemed to me, that no one had set out to treat the stylistic considerations of writing E-text, at least at any length, I decided to expand my three chapters into the present work. I set out to write down systematically some observations I had made concerning the differences between E-text and "ordinary" writing. I treat E-text as a legitimate medium of expression, one that must be addressed on its own terms and without unnecessary reference to how the words might look on paper or how the work might be useful if printed out. For reasons that I will discuss at length in the first part, only a small fraction of E-text will ever see the light of print. While paper may offer a better resolution image and a more perspicuous whole, E-text excels at ease of production and portability. It can be copied simply, transported great distances in seconds by electronic networks, and stored on magnetic media--floppy disks, hard drives, and CD-ROMs-- that are less bulky and cheaper than paper. The extraordinary growth of E-mail in the past few years, from a medium used by a few scientists and government officials to one accessible to millions, often in a humanistic or business setting, demands that we give the writing of E-text the attention it deserves. If you wish to communicate effectively, you will have to master this new medium. It is a necessary part of education--if only we knew what to teach! Good writing is, in many respects, the same for any medium. And the first thing any writer learns is that their** writing must fit both the audience and the medium being used. We cannot pretend any longer that we are writing for print or that our audience will be looking at anything other than a computer screen. ** I deliberately use "their" as an ambiguous pronoun throughout. Just as the print media differ among themselves depending on the intended audience, expected lifetime of the text, and peculiarities of the medium, so E-text differs from print. This work is organized as follows: In the first part we delineate the major differences between the print media and E-text. In the second part, we discuss specific issues such as techniques for designing a visually appealing layout, or representing characters. The third and final part is a brief style manual for writing E-text. It is not offered as a set of prescriptions, but as an example of how the principles in the second part can be realized in practice. + + + In this introductory section, I would like to make a brief apology for E-text. It is not usual, in discussing the print media, to begin a manual on style with a defense of the worth of the medium; however, E- text is so new that many persons will say "Why bother with it?". They deserve an answer. The most insidious objection to E-text is the claim that it is just printed text before it has been printed out. In effect, this denies either that (1) There is any difference between the needs of E-text and the needs of print; or (2) That all text is printed out before being read. The second premise is demonstrably false--most E-mail correspondence and anything longer than about 25 pages obtained over a computer network suffice as examples. The first premise requires a more extended answer, since it is the source of a great deal of confusion. In fact, the entire first part of this work is devoted to refuting it. In this brief apology I will answer two simpler objections: that E-text is so esoteric that it is of no interest to ordinary persons; or that it is so commonplace as to be beneath our consideration. I call these two objections the "Ham Radio" and "Telephone" objections, respectively. Not every communications medium is of interest to a large number of persons. Take, for example, Amateur Radio. Using short-wave radio to communicate requires a fair technical knowledge and special equipment. Because of these two investments, neither the medium nor the skills required to master it are common. This situation is very similar to that of computers in the late '70's. Computers were not commonplace, being owned mostly by hobbyists. Communication and distribution of information was primitive, often by floppy disk passed hand to hand. And the special programs required to create and read E-text--word processors--were uncommon and required special skills. On the other hand, some will object that E-text is now so commonplace that it needs no consideration. You don't read style manuals about how to talk on the Telephone do you? Although some scholars may discuss how telephone conversation differs from the ordinary face-to-face variety, most of us use telephones un-self-consciously. E-text is like typing a letter. Who cares? Although the *mechanics* of talking on a telephone are trivial, the social implications are not. One can point out, for example, that to most people, their parents have become persons that they talk to on the telephone and not persons that they work with every day and see face-to- face. The social implications of this are enormous; the technology trivial. Similarly with E-text: while the mechanics are easily mastered and perhaps of little interest, E-text together with global computer networks make possible a form of community that didn't exist prior to the medium. The sort of community that will form around E-text is different from the kind of communities that are centered on the telephone. Rather than family or casual friends, it is likely to be a community that cares about a single issue or agenda. These communities can range from complex communities like companies or groups of scholars, to persons sharing a single, simple interest. Already, in our society, we find that technology has allowed us to adopt a pattern of individualism never seen in the world before. Most face- to-face communication is with your immediate family, your co-workers, and perhaps a few friends. These friends are not as likely to live next to you as in a small town, and you see them less often. E-text both carries this atomization to its extreme and simultaneous offers a way out from its worst effects. It is possible, using the medium, to form important relationships with persons you have never seen or talked to--this is individual atomism in the extreme. At the same time, E-text provides a communications medium that can go beyond. It solves the problem, inherent in much of our society, of shallow relationships with other humans. These new, deep relationships can be business or scholarly, , or just old-fashioned friendship. Thus communicating well carries social implications that go far deeper than talking well on the telephone. How you write E-text may affect how you *appear* to potential friends, clients, and one day perhaps even family.** ** It is only a matter of time before parents of college children realize they can have a much closer relationship with their children for the 10 dollars a month it costs to open an E-mail account. Despite the unnaturalness compared to talking, in many ways E-text is superior to the telephone as a way to "keep in touch". The telephone requires that both persons be available simultaneously. Most conversations are short and business-like, with marathon sessions being reserved for close family and a few friends. But it is not for writing the occasional personal note that one needs a style manual. Unlike the telephone, E-mail has more serious uses--the same uses that print media have. It is used for business, persuasion, publication, and scholarship. E-mail may become as commonplace as telephone, but it will not be approached with the same casualness. Over the course of the past year or so I have seen collaborations of individuals in many fields spring up. These collaborations at first were of course among computer scientists. Then, in the last couple of years the Scientists have caught on. There are signs that all academic disciplines will soon have such collaborations. The cost in equipment is low and the advantages great. Software for business "working groups" is already in the marketplace. Collaboration by E-mail--and a consequent reliance on E-text--may become the dominant social model for certain kinds of collaboration: E.g., within a company or scholarly community--wherever the persons cannot meet face to face. There are many who say that E-text as we now know it--the typewriter- like production of character-oriented terminals--will soon give way to a new medium, mulitmedia. In this view, newer computers will spawn newer media and the old ones will be forgotten. In five years, ten at the most, E-text will be a thing of the past. Surely, the argument goes, we should not invest time in perfecting a medium that is little better than a fad. Multimedia indeed shows great promise. I have no doubt that soon it will be possible to mail graphic images, audio, and video clips along with text. Printers will print not only color but black and white. And visual formatting information like font, point size, and so on will be sent alongside the basic text. Not only that, but these capabilities will become part of every household, every phone system, cable system, and cellular communications network. Personal computers will replace telphones as the "communications center" of the household. The vision of multimedia is one of old media--color magazines, television, telephone, radio--being reborn in the new guise of electronics. But what do you think will be a large component of each and every mulitmedia message? Could it be that most of it will be E- text? I think multimedia will turn out to be a lot like a letter to home. We may send an occasional picture, or even an audio cassette, but most of the communication will be in our writing. Ultimately, writing is easier than taking photographs or editing video clips--though not as easy as talking. It takes less time, less capital, and less effort. Multimedia may be good for advertising, for writing textbooks, and for fun; but for just plain communicating? If it requires more thought or needs to reach more persons than a short telephone call, it will be E-text. Multimedia will fill the niche of four color magazines, coffee table art books, the biology textbooks, and advertising. Look around you, at your bookshelves, and notice how many have no pictures. Think how many typed letters your office sends out compared to the number of four-color brochures it creates. Most information is disseminated by the cheapest possible means. Right now, electronic text is that cheapest means. As more and more persons learn how to get it, it will become the dominant medium. E-text is the black and white print of the electronic age. The uses of E-text are as diverse as the uses of print. The chief innovation of the new medium is the fact that it places the capability to publish in the hands of *anyone*. The capital required to spread information or ideas has been reduced to a level any person, or at least any community of persons, can afford. The E-text revolution is that individuals are no longer dependent on institutions or even businesses to create, share, and gather information.** Every interest and splinter group, every church or synagogue, every would-be author, student, or scholar can collaborate with others, write, and share texts. ** They are still dependent on hardware, software, and telecommunications. As E-text becomes more and more acceptable, it will become the medium of expression used by the masses. If you wish to reach them, you will have to learn to write it effectively. Education--real education--has always been a rather solitary effort. The right conditions seem to involve access to a good library, a chance to talk with collaborators, write new material, and have it discussed by the community of interested persons. E-text can bring these necessary conditions for education out of the university to the simplest home. E-text is at the stage the European vernaculars were at the time of the Renaissance. There were many doubters who pointed to the established Latin tongue as the medium of communication. But, in time, reality forced even the scholars to yield. A revolution was accomplished in which masses of ordinary people could own books and even on occasion produce them. The implications for society and learning were staggering. Like that earlier time, when print was new, there is now much innovation and experimentation, and the wise practitioner will sift carefully the techniques and suggestions offered both here and by others. In time we shall have our Dantes, our Bacons, and our Shakespeares; the persons who will show us how to make this new medium not only a utilitarian one but a sublime one. For now, let us take those first hesitant steps down that path. <Part I> Writing for an E-Text Audience: Basic Problems Writing for an E-text audience is very much like writing for a print audience, but there are subtle differences. Nowadays, both works destined for print and works aimed at the global networks are likely to be created on a personal computer. The advantage of being able to make incremental changes to a manuscript, and to create near print-quality works with a laser printer--not to mention the advantages of spell- checkers, automatic footnotes and the like--means that both kinds of author will be using a computer. But one will be aiming for an effective and attractive *printed* manuscript and the ot