The house style used by GenevaLunch (GL) was created for one reason, to make life easier for the reader. People in the Lake Geneva region who speak English come from virtually every country in the world. For many, English is a first language but for a very large number it is a second or third or fourth language.
The variations on spoken and written English used by people in the Lake Geneva area add to the richness of the community's basket of languages. GL wants to ensure that all of you feel equally at home on this site, the voice of a wonderfully international community.
The house style is used for all journalism articles. Community reporters are not obliged to follow it but you might want to familiarize yourself with it and see if it answers some of your writing questions. Reports are edited lightly to align them with house style and the editor has the final word.
Please check with the editor if you have questions about the best way to deal with any of those niggling little things that get in every writer's way. At the end of this text is a list that covers specific problems. As common problems surface, their solutions will be added to the list.
House style covers these areas:
writing for the web; use of language and terminology; spelling; punctuation.
The style guide is based on a book researched and written by GL editor Ellen Wallace in 1998 for the International Baccalaureate Organization. The IBO uses it for its own house style and sells it to schools around the world. The first print run of The Fine Line, communicating clearly in English in an international setting was 4,000 copies and the second edition, in 2003, was 3,000 copies. Ellen Wallace receives no royalties but has an agreement with the IBO that 15% of the sales price will be used to fund education in Africa. For explanations about the rationale behind GL's usage, please see the book.
Writing for the web
Try to make your texts useful for the reader by including links to other sites, including some of your resources. Maps are often helpful. Keep your sentences short. Keep your paragraphs short. Avoid using dashes and parentheses to set off phrases. Ask yourself frequently if a sentence can be cut in two. If the answer is yes, do so.
Language and terminology
There is a tendency to think the world of English speakers is divided into two camps, British and American. This overlooks the complexity of our world. The Lake Geneva region has large groups from Ireland and Scotland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and other countries where English is one of the national languages. Each of these uses English in its own way. The policy of GenevaLunch is to respect these differences by encouraging writers to use English the way they would at home.
That said, remember the reader! Try to be aware of phrases or words that are ambiguous. Look for words that are clear. An American garden is the place where flowers and vegetables grow. An Irish garden is the grassy area around the house, which an American thinks of as the lawn. South Africans have boerewors at their braais. A Peruvian would be forgiven for not knowing this means they cook sausages at their barbecues. Don't use sports terms unless you are writing about sports: she went to the mat could confuse people who don't follow wrestling.
Political correctness: a cardinal rule is, do not offend.
Race and ethnic groups: remember that your readers are international and your job is to be clear. Use labels that are widely accepted.
Sexism: Find a balance between using sexist terms and creating absurdities. Maintain your sense of humour and it will be easier to keep your sense of perspective.
Spelling
Accents are used for words that do not have common English equivalents. Words imported from other languages should be put in italics, but please keep these to a minimum. Never assume that your readers will be familiar with non-English words. The following are guidelines; there are always exceptions. The Fine Line has more details and provides the final say. The Times Atlas of the World is the official source for spellings of place names.
-our rather than -or, so honour and colour;
-ize rather than -ise, so authorize, sensitize, stabilize;
-ce for nouns and -se for verbs, so: It is our practice to practise the flute daily. She received her government licence to license accountants.
-dg rather than -dge, so judgment, acknowledgment;
-ue and -e rather than truncated words, so catalogue, dialogue, axe;
-re rather than -er, so centre, metre.
Punctuation
Use double quotation marks rather than single.
Do not use three dots unless you are quoting someone and not including part of the quote.
Final punctuation generally goes inside the quotation mark: Dylan Thomas wrote, "Do not go gentle into that good night." The exception is quoted material that is not a complete sentence and therefore has no closing punctuation: The students argued about what he meant by "good night".