Anyone who plans to create texts for any public use should follow a few simple and universally accepted guidelines. This is like table manners or public conduct you would hardly decide to ignore just because it's more convenient to you at the moment.
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Identify yourself
If you mean to make your text public, be sure to include the name of the author, so that your reader can cite your work in the appropriate manner. Try to provide complete information about the status of the work and copyright, the date of its creation and the author's name, position and any other relevant details. If you expect feedback, be sure to give a valid e-mail (and don't forget to protect it from spam). You are expected to reply to any meaningful comments which you will receive. If you are not sure you will be able to respond, you'd better avoid leaving your direct e-mail.
You can do this either at the very beginning of the document (preferred if the document is several pages long) or at the very end.
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Choose the suitable page layout and fonts.
Set appropriate margins to the documents and adjust the font type and size.
Try to ensure that there are no more than 66 characters in a line since a 66-character line is widely regarded as ideal for readability.
Avoid using extraordinary fonts which can distract your reader's attention.
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Structure the text
Be sure to structure the text in order to facilitate its perception. Give the overall document a heading and typeset it appropriately (choose a heading style or just put it in bold). Divide the text into logical units (chapters, paragraphs, columns, if necessary) and give clear, easy-to-understand title to each big meaningful unit of text. Avoid too much detail or too short paragraphs; it might be quite confusing and the reader will risk losing focus.
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Lay emphasis
If you need to draw your readers' attention to certain parts of the text, you can emphasize it. Just don't forget that underlining is strictly for typewriters; modern word processors and page layout programs give access to italic typefaces: Use italics for emphasis. Using boldface might make your page look blotchy. Use quotation marks only for their intended purpose: quotations. To use quotation marks for emphasis is disruptive to smooth reading of your text.
For lists and enumerations, use bullets and numbering. Remember than any visual representation of the information is better perceived.
Avoid using different colors unless highly needed.
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Avoid double spacing
Follow the period at the end of a sentence by a single space, not two. Use a single paragraph mark to terminate a paragraph, not two. On a typewriter, you are forced to set two hyphens in place of a dash, but in typeset work you can use an en dash — like this — surrounded by normal (word) spaces. To achieve spacing, or to force a paragraph to the top of a page, use your word processor’s spacing and positioning controls instead of blank lines.
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Use dashes, apostrophes and quotes in their places.
It is wrong to set two hyphens in place of a dash: Use an “en” dash surrounded by normal (word) spaces. Modern word processors and page layout programs allow you to use typographic characters. Use the straight single and double quotes ’ and “only to denote minutes, seconds, feet, and inches; and then only if there is insufficient space to spell out the unit. For an apostrophe, use the proper typographical character (‘); for quotations, use typographer‘s -curly” quotes. (These may be accessible through your word processor‘s smart quotes feature.)
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Control lines and hyphenation
Modern word processors allow you to control line breaks and hyphenation. Use a non-breaking space (Ctrl+Shift+Space in Microsoft Word) to prevent adjacent elements — such as a numerical quantity and its associated unit — from being separated by a line or page break. Non-breaking space is a variant of the space character that prevents an automatic line break (line wrap) at its position.
Use a non-breaking hyphen to avoid the elements of a compound modifier, such as 35-millimeter, from being broken at a line-end. Vice versa, you can also include soft hyphens to allow the optimal text structuring. It is a tedious task to insert the soft hyphens by hand, therefore there are some tools available that automatically insert the soft hyphens into the texts.
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Figures should be correctly oriented
If your document includes figures oriented differently from the text, it will be necessary for the reader to rotate your document. You must ensure that he or she has to turn the document only once per page, and always in the same direction. Arrange the layout so that the reader rotates the body text clockwise 90 degrees to view a figure. In other words, when viewing the text in its natural orientation, place the top of a rotated figure to the left.
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Use numbers responsibly.
It is a fact that inserting numerals into your text instead of the corresponding words (45 attracts more attention than forty-five). According to the recent finding, most readers prefer to scan the text for information rather than read through it. That's where numbers can help-they are associated with worthy information not to be missed. So, you increase your chances to be read if you supply your text with relevant numbers. The only danger here is not to overdo with numbers. Treat them responsibly.
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Check for typos and punctuation problems.
A document which contains typos looks untidy and can't be too persuasive. If you are a touch-typist, just launching your spell checker is not enough. Chances are it will miss some smart typos like ad instead of add, etc. The best option is to submit your document for proofreading where a professional will inspect the text for typos, inadequacies of style, and just illogical or unnecessary parts of the text.
Just follow these easy steps and you can hope not only to be read, but also to be heard and understood.
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