4 Writing & Voice Guide

Primary Writing Principles

A hybrid of Academic and Conversational. Washington Open Proftech textbooks will employ both academic and conversational writing styles.

Keep it Academic

Academic writing is clear, concise, focused, structured, and backed up by evidence. Its purpose is to aid the reader’s understanding. It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex and does not require the use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary (Univerity of Leeds, 2022). Some of the main traits of academic writing include:

• Goal-oriented and coherent: Uses coherent and logical organizations to support intended goals and objectives;
• Evidenced: Demonstrates knowledge of the subject area, supports opinions and arguments with evidence;
• Concise and direct: Uses clear and precise language. This means being as specific as possible and avoiding vague, long-winded, and over-complicated expressions;
• Formal and standard: Avoids informal/unofficial language, such as contractions or slang vocabulary.

Employ Conversational Style as Needed

Textbooks can have a lighter, more conversational writing style than monographs and reference works (Springer, 2022). Conversational writing style makes any form of text sound like a conversation between two people rather than merely presenting the information.

Consider employing a conversational writing style as needed for the chapter while maintaining the academic writing style. For example, you can call out students and advise directly as if you are conversing with students. See an example below:

There are many career paths from which to choose, particularly in the healthcare field. Before selecting a future career, you might first ask yourself if you are suited for a career in healthcare. It is important to assess your goals and needs before you put time, energy, and money into pursuing a career. This chapter includes self-assessment questions as well as educational requirements and brief descriptions for many careers (Health Science: Concepts and Applications, 1st Edition, Page 36)

Another common way is to pose a question at the beginning of the chapter, which is highly effective in gaining students’ attention. See an example below:

Has your doctor ever spoken to you using terms that were hard to understand or that you had never heard before? Sometimes it can seem like doctors and healthcare professionals speak a foreign language. Learning the language of medicine, called medical terminology, might feel overwhelming at first. However, if you wish to enter the healthcare field, you need to understand the basic rules for forming medical terms. (Health Science: Concepts and Applications, 1st Edition, Page 136)

Other Writing Principles

Use more Active sentences

Try to use active rather than passive sentences. For example,

It is believed by some healthcare professionals that…(passive)

Some healthcare professionals believe that…(active)

APA (6th edition) particularly advocates for the active voice for clarity and conciseness (page 77). APA also stated that the passive voice is acceptable when you want to focus on the object or recipient of the action rather than on the actor (p. 77). For example,

The majority of ProfTech programs have not yet been included in large-scale open textbook projects, despite these programs’ high number of enrollments.

In this sentence, the focus is on ProfTech programs. The active voice version (“Large-scale open textbook projects have not included ProfTech Programs”) puts the focus on the large-scale open textbook projects.

Bias-free

Use language that is free of bias. Avoid language that conveys prejudicial beliefs or demeaning attitudes. Open ProfTech project follows the APA’s Bias-Free Language guideline.

Explanatory and Descriptive

Audiences of the introductory level textbooks (mostly students) are often at the very beginning stage of understanding the topic. Keep your tone and writing style explanatory, descriptive, and illustrative.

Repetitive

Return to critical concepts repeatedly in various places in the chapter. Displaying the same topic in a different light helps reinforce students’ understanding of the topic.

Encouraging and Cheerful

Try to keep your tone and writing style cheerful and encouraging for your (potentially) unwilling audiences. Your textbook audience (mostly your students) may not share your passion for the topic at all. Their reading of the book may not even be voluntary. This is especially important for the audiences of introductory level textbooks.

Points of View

For Washington Open ProfTech textbooks, faculty authors should write from the 3rd person point of view and avoid the 1st point of view (I or we) entirely. See an example below:

We value freedom (1st person point of view)

Americans value freedom (3rd person point of view)

However, the 2nd person point of view (you) can be allowed when addressing the students directly. See an example below:

There are many jobs and careers in the welding industry. Preparing yourself for a meaningful career requires advanced planning. This involves setting goals, which are aims or targets a person tries to achieve. Preparing yourself for the future involves setting goals today. Before you can set career goals, however, you need to consider several personal factors, including your career interests, aptitudes, and personal traits (Welding Fundamentals 6e, Page 4)

In short, for the Open ProfTech textbooks, there is no I or We, but there could be You.

Please note that this guideline only applies to the text writing for the book. It does not apply to the narration for the video tutorial.

Reference

Writing a textbook – Advice for authors by Springer

Academic Writing by University of Leeds

Principles of Writing: Passive and Active Voice by APA Style Blog