Style Guide

Blue.painting, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AIP_Style_Manual_3ed_1978_-_Paperback_-_Inside_title_page.jpg
Blue.painting, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AIP_Style_Manual_3ed_1978_-_Paperback_-_Inside_title_page.jpg

Since I'm inviting folks to contribute their perspectives and voices to this site, I think it's prudent to have a style guide. If you're thinking you'd like to write something give this a read!

  • I'm currently the defacto editor in chief so if you have an idea you can reach out to me by email or shoot me a message on LinkedIn with a short pitch (50 words or so). Keep in mind that I have a day job, so I'll get back to you as quickly as I can! For a sense of style and tone have a look at the posts that are already up as a starting point.
  • Language: For now posts should be in English. Having space for posts in other languages is something I'd love to explore once things are a bit more consolidated!
  • Length: A perfect post would be 500-600 words, with 700-800 as the outer limit.
  • I'm pretty open to themes and regional foci, so here are some elements I'd look for in a post:
    • What aspect(s) of politics, culture, or development are you speaking to? Ask yourself: What part of the description on the About page am I speaking to, or speaks to what I'm writing about?
    • What is the historical element? Posts should have a reference point to something in the past (e.g. colonialism, Bretton Woods, NAFTA...basically political events, agreements, and movements), and use that as a basis for looking to the future. Is the lesson of your contribution that there is something worth preserving in your historical anchor, or should it all be left in the past?
    • Have this historical element speak to contemporary issues. I'm very open on topics as long as they link to politics, culture, or development.
    • Contention and drama. Don't hesitate to be polemic or dramatic in your writing - I know that this is different style-wise from academic or policy writing, and I'll work with contributors on style and tone. What we're talking about here are emotional and human things, so feel free to bring out these elements out when they arise in the writing process.
    • General audiences: While I love reading and hearing about peoples' specialized work, make sure that this specialized work speaks to a bigger picture so that a diverse audience can connect to it.
  • While you can write about contemporary issues, this isn't a news site so contributions don't have to cover things that are in the media.
  • Share links to any sources and employ good ethics in citing and inclusion of diverse views

I'm excited to see how this space evolves!