There are a series of small checks that are particularly important in extended pieces of work and that can be incorporated into the first and second stages of revision or into the proofreading stage or undertaken as a separate exercise. As they all have to do with consistency, it is convenient to deal with them together here.Variety—in the construction of paragraphs and in the length of sentences, for instance—is an important element in writing, but there are certain particulars that you should try to keep the same throughout. The first of these is the level, or tone, of your writing. This point has been discussed more than once before, so it will suffice to remind you that you should generally avoid shifting—let alone suddenly lurching—from an informal to a formal mode, or vice versa: "With reference to your letter of October 24, it sucks!" or "I can't go bowling with you guys next Wednesday because I have a previous engagement."Another issue is the spelling of particular words. It is not the case that every word has only one correct spelling (and any number of incorrect ones). For example, the word livable may also be spelled liveable. It is important, however, that you should choose one form, stick to it, and apply it to other similar words, such as lovable (not loveable) and likable (not likeable).The same applies to the use of hyphens, punctuation with abbreviations, and capitalization. As noted at abbreviations, the modern tendency is to omit periods, although they are sometimes used, and with certain abbreviations other punctuation marks are used. Any of the following four styles is possible (the first is probably the most standard), but a single style must be chosen and adhered to throughout a piece of writing.… animals, e.g., cats and dogs, are welcome …
… animals, e.g. cats and dogs, are welcome …
… animals e.g. cats and dogs are welcome …
… animals eg cats and dogs are welcome … (Similar styles with the use, or nonuse, of commas can be adopted with i.e. and etc.)Certain words may be hyphenated, for example, e-mail or email and good-bye (or good-by) or goodbye. Certain words, especially proper names, must always have initial capital letters, but dictionaries label some words "often cap," meaning that both forms are both acceptable (as in webcam and Webcam). You then have to choose which form you wish to use. The important point is that once you have decided which form you prefer, you should always use the word in that form wherever it occurs in the text.Finally, there may be two or more ways to refer to the same event or phenomenon—for instance, World War II or the Second World War. As before, choose whichever form you prefer and use it consistently for that and every related term (for example, World War I and World War II, or the First World War and the Second World War) on each appearance. (The Find facility in a word-processing program is often an invaluable help for searching out any oversights.)Consistency in HeadingsIn extended written texts, especially when you have written the material over a long period of time, it is important to check that headings are styled consistently. For example, in an essay on rites of passage, some headings might use a verb form—for example, "Marking the Initiation Ceremony"—while others might be styled with a noun—"Preparation for the Ceremony." These should be styled similarly throughout, for example, "Marking the Initiation Ceremony" and "Preparing for the Initiation Ceremony." Likewise, a separate check should be made that numbering (1., 1.1, etc.) or levels of hierarchy are consistent.Checking Text with Bullet PointsIf you have included bullet points in your text, it is important to ensure that the opening (platform) text runs in grammatically with each individual bulleted line. Often the grammatical form of the words varies; for example,Candidates should be - Skilled to a high standard in a wide range of writing experience, including the production of fund-raising and educational materials
- Able to meet deadlines and organize workload, especially when priorities may conflict
- Able to work in a collaborative manner
- Have experience of staff supervision
- Be able to communicate the organization's aims clearly
This text should be revised to the following:Candidates should be - Skilled to a high standard in a wide range of writing experience, including the production of fund-raising and educational materials
- Able to meet deadlines and organize workload, especially when priorities may conflict
- Able to work in a collaborative manner
- Experienced in staff supervision
- Able to communicate the organization's aims clearly
As well as checking that the platform text runs in with each line grammatically and consistently, it is also important to check that the punctuation at the end of each bullet point is consistent. Contemporary trends are moving toward no punctuation at the end of each short bullet point, especially when these are shorter than a full sentence. The bulleted list may or may not have a concluding period at the end. When an individual bullet point consists of more than one sentence, however, normal punctuation rules should be adopted within the bullet point, such as a period at the end of the first sentence.Style SheetFor extended pieces of writing, it can be very helpful to create a style sheet that lists the preferences used in the text, as in the following example., e.g.,
e-mail [hyphen]
good-bye [hyphen]
Internet [cap I]
lovable [not loveable]
Web site [cap W] Numbers
Below 100, written out
50–5 [not 50–55]
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