Wise Owl Style Guide
Rule 2: Keep your Paragraphs Short
Consider which of the following two instructions you find easier to read:
Creating Custom Formats - version 1
To create a custom number format in Excel:
- Select the cells whose format you wish to change.
- From the menu select:
- Complete the dialog box which appears as shown below, then click on OK.
Or:
Creating Custom Formats - version 1
To create a custom number format in Excel, simply select the cells whose format you wish to change. You can then select Format Cells... from the menu. Finally, complete the dialog box which appears as shown below, then click on OK.
We hope you'll agree that the first box is much easier to read, because it breaks the text up into numbered paragraphs.
You can use numbered steps, tables and (above all) diagrams to break up your paragraphs, but writers of Wise Owl courseware should always try to follow the golden rule:
Keep your paragraphs down to 2 lines of text at the most.
