HP TextEngineer Technical Writing Guide - Manual (Page 6)

Company Writer's Guide
[For Illustration Only] 1-6
1.3 PUNCTUATION
Standard rules of English (as defined by Strunk and White 1 ) for grammar and punctuation should
be used.
Avoid long sentences; use semicolons (;) only in short sentences. Also, avoid using contractions
because they often cause confusion.
Use the final comma in a series (e.g., apples, oranges, and pears).
Place periods after the following:
•
Sentences
•
Between heading digits (e.g., 1.1.1) and after lower-level step letters and numbers (e.g., a.,
1.)
Place colons after statements that are followed by lists, such as lists of individual components.
• Bullets ( •) should be used in a list instead of numbers or letters when numbering serves no
purpose, or no reference to specific item(s) in the list will be made.
1.4 CAPITALIZATION
The trend in most corporate and technical writing is to eliminate unnecessary capitalization. Use
capitalization only as described below.
Capitalize the first letter of the following:
•
Each main word in subsection headings
•
First word in a sentence
•
First word in each phrase used in a list
•
Proper nouns, such as vendor or organization names
• Full titles of formal programs and documents
• Specific company product names
1 Strunk, William, and E. B. White, “The Elements of Style.”