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Formatting and Typesetting Email
1. Email document Length Considerations
Different length communications need different considerations. I have one correspondent
who writes and writes. Sometimes several a day. They're long, and tough to read.
By the time I'm two thirds of the way through, I've forgotten the first part.
Short emails are pretty much covered in the previous section. If your email is longer
than a single screen (about 30 to 50 lines depending on how the window is set) then
you'll want to consider sub-heads.
The important thing to remember about subheads is that they not only provide reader
queues, but they help you organize your thoughts and establish important sections.
Subheads can be formatted as a single head on its own line with a blank line before
and after. They can also be underscored using dashes on the next line:
This is a Major head
====================
This is a Subhead
-----------------
<> Here's a Bullet Subhead that's been Underscored
-----------------------------------------------
These call special attention to the item, and with the double-dash, or 'equal' mark,
you can distinguish between major heads and sub heads.
With long emails, email newsletters or email press releases the rules of white space
and clarity apply.
Length should never be more than 8 to 12 K. You can say a lot in 12 K. Unless your
readers expect an email newsletter or some other lengthy communication, they'll probably
never get to the end.
2. Character Formatting
With long emails, email newsletters or email press releases the rules of white space
and clarity apply.
Asterisks, hyphens or underscores can be used to emphasize text.
Asterisks: *this* device adds emphasis. Use it in place of italics
Dashes: Use two dashes -- instead of -- EM dashes.
Ellipse: Use this correctly, according to standard style, but use three dots, or
periods.
Underscore: Use underscore formal names like _Magazines_ and _Books_ . This is like
underlining in manuscript writing style.
ALL CAPS: should never be used except where a single, or perhaps two words DEMAND
extreme boldness. For the ultimate... reserved only for the most extreme use the
asterisk and caps. Now you're *REALLY* shouting.
3. Paragraph Formatting
As I mentioned before, add blank lines between paragraphs. The added white space
makes it so much easier to distinguish one paragraph from the next.
Indents: Many people advocate indents. In order for this to really fulfill its function,
you need TWO indents... meaning the first two lines. I don't do it except in special
cases. Generally the blank line is enough separation.
. . . Two or three spaces are sufficient. In traditional
typesetting protocol the first line after a head or subhead should *not* be indented,
but following paragraphs under the same head set should be. Experiment and see which
is more attractive to you.
... Forced Indents: in some situations you may want to force an indent, no matter
the reader's email client. If you want to force an indent use two underscores and
a space, or three to four dots. This puts actual characters in the text string and
forces the indent. I don't recommend it.
__ Do NOT use the Tab key -- tabs are handled differently by different networks,
off-line readers and e-mail clients, and sometimes ignored completely. You are also
at the mercy of the readers default tab setting which may be 16 spaces!
Length and Justification
I cautioned earlier to insert a hard carriage return at the end
of each 60 to 80 character line.
12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 (50 characters)
Now, let's remember the tried and true rule of the optimum line length for readability:
1 and 1/2 alphabets, or roughly 40 to 50 characters. This has been proven to be the
maximum line length for easy reading and quick absorption. Why? Mainly because that
line length can be 'seen' as a whole, and taken in as a 'gulp' rather than stringing
along word by word. So, if your lines get down around 40 characters, you'll do better.
Rather than letting the email client wrap your text, do it by hand. Remember that
is someone is reading on a 17 inch monitor, and they let their email window default
to the full window width (don't laugh... I've seen many, many computer users set
up this way, particularly PC users.) you're talking about maybe over 100 characters!
Yikes. Suddenly paragraphs become gray strips across the screen that are all but
impossible to read.
Paragraphs should be formed with each line somewhat similar to the previous line
in terms of length. Severely ragged lines will be more difficult to read. Long, short,
long, short, set up noise, and fatigues the eye in finding the beginning of the next
line.
Break your lines at the 60 character length, and on the next line, look for a word
break either falling very close to the preceding line, or the next shorter line length.
This will have the effect of tapering down your right hand paragraph edge to the
shortest last line. Guess what? This puts your reader's eye moving in the direction
of the next paragraph start! It also looks cool when scrolling.
8. Formatting for Organization.
For longer emails, newsletters, etc., organization becomes of paramount importance,
particularly if the information is to become instructions, a reference to be kept,
regulations, agreements, contracts, etc. With these the reader now has to be able
to navigate around the document, both up and down the scroll.
Table of Contents
After authoring the email document, build a table of contents using just the Subheads.
As you've seen, for years, in our email newsletter, each item is numbered and underscored.
When all the content is in place, the subs are copied to the top. Now our readers
can see what's in this issue without scrolling. If an item appeals to the reader,
they can copy that item, quickly paste it into the "find" dialog and jump
directly to that item. Many people will copy the table of contents into a master
index file for archived newsletters so they can quickly locate items they remember
reading about. (I do it with over a dozen different online newsletters!)
Bullet Lists
Use colons and/or brackets characters to create bullet lists. Use the style you like
best, but always remember it's a left indent format. If the line is going to wrap,
it will need to wrap and indent to the bullet width:
:: Two colons make a quiet
kind of bullet
<> Two Angle Brackets look
sassy like this
-> Dash and angle points to the text
<- Points out, and so forth
<-> Angle, dash Angle offsets the
line even more.
If it's a long list, and you think the reader may appreciate it, then
[__] Bracket, two underscores and another Bracket makes
a nice check list.
The best way to format these lists, if you have a lot of them, is to write all the
text first, then copy the first bullet, and paste it into the line of each item in
the list.
Do the same for the second line beginning... copy the spaces and the return character,
and walk down through your email pasting these at the line length before key words.
It goes very quickly. Don't invent the indent by hand for each line. Paste them in
later.
Forms with Specific Response Desired
If you have check-box items, or multiple choice, put the boxes at the beginning of
the line.
Yes No
[X] [_] Do you like chocolate?
[_] [X] Do you like strawberries?
[X] [_] Would you rather be riding a Harley?
If the desired response is a fill-in, do not use underscores. Simply state the question.
Question 6: Where do you like to ride your Harley?
If it's a range of items, put the check box in front of the item, and the items in
a list. Stringing them across a line makes them too hard to compare:
[_] $15 to $20 K
[_] $20 to $40 K
[_] $40 to $60 K
9. Formatting for Decoration.
Remember that undecorated email is usually best. Don't use long or ascii graphics
decorated signatures. Particularly if you're writing to a listserv. I get the WebDesign
list every day, and in the digest mode you'd be amazed at how much padding those
extravagant signatures add to file length and size.
Signatures: Three lines at the most. Make it easy to read and understand. (I've seen
emails where the signature is longer than the message!
Avoid boilerplate remarks, cliche, cute or, lengthy quotes, or ads at the end of
your mail. It degrades the importance of your message. It's visual and email pollution
or litter. Ads are the worst. If you're using one of those email services that puts
their ad at the bottom of your email, don't send it. (Bet I'll get a lot of flak
on that one!) Remember it's SPAM. And since you're sending it, you're sending SPAM.
Ascii Icons or "smiley faces"
Don't get caught in the ascii-icon trap. I use the ;-) and <g> far too much.
I've had people call me down for it. Oooops! You know what they are. I won't define
them all here. If you're compelled to use a smiley face or wink or any of the others,
once is enough. Just once.
:-)
Acronyms.
The use of acronyms in e-mail was very popular for quite a while, but is becoming
more and more a thing of the past. People used to use them to save time online while
being charged per minute. Not a pretty sight. Of course today, with unlimited access
everyone just camps online and waxes away.
Acronyms are still very acceptable however, and even suggest that you're an online
veteran. They also come in very handy in the chat rooms where typing space is tight,
and you need to communicate a lot of information quickly. So, use them if you like.
Here are my favorite ones:
FYI = for your information
IMHO = in my humble opinion
BTW = by the way,
LOL = laughing out loud
ROFL = rolling on the floor laughing
RE = referencing or referring to
BRB = in a chat room if you're leaving the computer for a moment.
Now it's taken a couple of pages for this exercise, so it sounds and reads like
a lot more work than it really is. Once you begin using some of these rules and conventions
they'll become second nature. You'll do it and won't think about it. Special formatting
like underscores, indents, and bullet lists are all easily accomplished with copy/paste
routines after you've written the piece. You still adhere to many of the same procedural
rules of desktop publishing: write first, format last. Easy.
Hope you enjoy having people tell you how much they like your email messages!
Fred
Follow-up:
We got an email from J. who was confused about last month's column "Typesetting
Email"
>How can I typeset my emails . . . in something
> other than the standard
>font: Times? Thank you in advance for your reply.
>J.
Well, actually, "Typesetting" is a bit of a stretch isn't it?
Don't do Times. What you need is the 'monospaced' font your system uses... that way
you can do the 'typesetting' or rather formatting tricks we talked about -- and they'll
turn out better.
In reality, you CAN'T change typefaces unless you are using the AOL mail client,
sending AOL mail, or if you format using HTML codes, and the reader has "Read
as HTML" checked in the mail client software... which most people don't. So,
HTML is not recommended.
Sorry, no fonts. But the mail can look and read better with the formatting suggestions
in the article.
Fred
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