Writing rules

The words you choose for your content marketing—whether written, audio, or video—are never neutral. They reflect your values, reveal your personality, and carry your mission. In this context, writing rules ensure stylistic consistency across all your communications. They’re not just an editorial formality: they are a direct extension of your organization DNA, mission, and voice.

What is a writing rule?

A writing rule is a stylistic or linguistic guideline that shapes how your content is written. It may relate to:

• the language register (formal, neutral, casual, expert, authoritative, etc.);
• the grammatical style (use of present or future tense, affirmative tone, preference for active voice);
• the preferred or banned vocabulary (keywords aligned with your brand universe, expressions to avoid for ethical or image-related reasons);
• the level of formality (use of “you” or “we,” inclusion of humor, intimacy, emotional tone, etc.);
• typographical choices (punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, acronyms, emojis…);
• linguistic borrowings (foreign words allowed, translated, or banned);
• the sentence structure (preference for short sentences, active phrasing, logical order of information…).

Writing rules can be brief or highly detailed, depending on the framework you want to set. However, the more complex and demanding they are, the harder they may be to adopt—and therefore to follow.

Why define writing rules?

Writing rules are essential to:

• Ensure consistency across all your content, regardless of the channel (website, blog, newsletter, social media, etc.);
• Strengthen your organization communication by establishing a clear, recognizable, and audience-appropriate style;
• Guide your internal or external contributors by providing a solid editorial framework;
• Save time by reducing the need for revisions and back-and-forths;
• Professionalize your content production and showcase your expertise.

These rules help anyone writing on your behalf stay aligned with your editorial voice, without compromising your brand identity.

With ContentCrea, these rules are automatically generated based on your brand DNA, mission, and voice. Of course, you can edit them at any time, but they provide a strong starting point to create content that is relevant, consistent, and impactful.