Formatting and Style

Formatting shapes how a piece feels before someone reads the first sentence. Give your words a comfortable setting: clear headings, readable lines, and enough space to find the next thought.

7.1Text and Paragraph Formatting

7.1.1Templates and Styles

Use predefined paragraph and character styles to keep related content consistent. Define headings, body text, lists, captions, and other recurring elements once. Check that the styles remain readable and accessible in the finished format.

7.1.2Text and Character Formatting

A few repeatable choices can make a piece feel like a whole.

• Make headings easy to distinguish by size and weight.
• Give body text a readable font and comfortable spacing.
• Underline text links or provide another cue beyond color.
• Use bold and italics to guide attention.
• Put actual app and website labels in bold when explaining an action.
• Use a monospaced font for literal code when it helps.

Untitled pairs surf blue (#359EF6) with white, light gray (#F7F7F7), dark gray (#1D1D1D), and black. The accent adds a little energy. Check contrast when applying color to small text. A deeper secondary blue (#0971C7) keeps text, focus indicators, and filled buttons readable. Surf blue stays in decorative accents and on dark surfaces where its contrast works.

7.1.3Spacing

Give lines enough room to be read comfortably. The right spacing depends on the font, size, line length, and format. Check a real passage instead of choosing a ratio in isolation.

Separate paragraphs with spacing or an indent. Use your writing app’s paragraph settings rather than adding repeated spaces or empty lines.

7.1.4Justification

Use left-aligned (ragged-right) text for most content. Full justification should be avoided, as it may introduce uneven spacing and hinder readability.

7.1.5Tabs and Indents

Use paragraph indents, tab stops, or a table to align text. Repeated spaces tend to drift when a font, page width, or screen size changes.

7.1.6Columns

Use a single column when it makes reading and navigation easier. Multiple columns can suit a newsletter or print layout, but check the line length, reading order, and how the content behaves on a small screen.

7.1.7Headers and Footers

In a longer document, a header can remind readers where they are, and a footer can hold a page number or other useful detail. Include what helps them navigate without crowding the page.

See Header and Footer Structure for more.

7.1.8Superscript and Subscript

Superscript raises a character above the line; subscript lowers it. They’re useful for footnote markers, powers, and chemical formulas.

Superscript: x²; 10³

Subscript: H₂O; CO₂

Keep them readable at their smaller size. For ordinary ordinals such as 10th, a raised ending is usually unnecessary. Make footnote markers and notes work in the reading order, too.

See Footnotes for more.

7.2Date, Time, and Contact Info

7.2.1Date and Time Formatting

Write dates so readers don’t have to guess the order of the month and day. Spelling out the month works well in ordinary prose; year-month-day works well for structured records.

Month first: April 3, 2026

Day first: 3 April 2026

Year first: 2026-04-03

A 12-hour or 24-hour clock can work. Include a.m. or p.m. where needed, and add a time zone when readers may be elsewhere. See Writing Across Regions for more.

7.2.2Phone Numbers

Use a phone-number format readers can recognize and dial. For an international audience, include the plus sign and country code, then group the remaining digits according to the number’s national convention.

For examples, use a placeholder or a number reserved for fictional use, rather than a plausible private number.

Placeholder: +[country code] [phone number]

Write extension or ext. before an extension if readers need one. For a web link, keep the underlying telephone number dialable even when the visible text includes spaces.

7.2.3Addresses

Use a format appropriate to the destination country. Include the country when writing for an international audience. Keep address elements in a consistent order. Use clearly fictional details in examples and avoid publishing private addresses.

7.2.4Names and Contact Information

Use a person’s preferred name and spelling. Verify contact details before publishing them. For examples, use clearly illustrative names and reserved domains such as example.com, example.org, or example.net.

Example: Jordan Lee, jordan@example.com.

7.2.5Time and Place

Tomorrow can be perfectly clear in a message to a friend. An invitation someone may save or forward needs a date. Give enough context for the way the piece will be read.

• Name the date when the timing may be unclear later.
• Add a time zone for people in different places. Check daylight saving time for the date you mean.
• Explain an unfamiliar place name or local reference.

Message: See you tomorrow at nine.

Invitation: Join us on April 3 at 9 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (UTC−6).

7.3Formatting Punctuation

See Formatting Punctuation.