The cover of each issue should be different. It should make people want to read what's inside. Too many church magazines have a picture of a church building on the front and an advert for the local undertakers on the back! Don't fall into that trap; what news-stand publications do that? If you can't put news articles on the front cover, at least change your picture. Good choices are the Annie Vallotton's pictures from the Good News Bible from the Christian Clip Art collection or one of the woodcuts from the Bible Picture Library of Line Art for something more formal. If you publish in colour, there are 1800 pictures to choose from on the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art.

A common size is an A5 page. Prepare it on A4 and reduce-copy it. You'll get better clarity. Use bigger type than normal (14pt comes out at about 10pt).

In writing a news article, present it as news and say what the story's about right at the start. Consider these:

It was in 1991, following an accident whilst out walking during the club's annual outing, that the Over sixties club treasurer, Mary Smith's troubles began. She bravely fought on, keeping up her work as treasurer, she received her home call.

and

The Over-sixties club is looking for a new treasurer following the death of Mrs. Mary Smith at the beginning of the month.

The second one is much more "newsy". It says what the situation is now (the club is looking for a secretary) and says exactly why in simple language. Look at the news items in the "serious" newspapers (they're normally on the first two or three pages) and you'll find that you'll know exactly what the story is all about by reading the first few words.

Include the "5 Ws"—Who, what, why, when, where-in your report in descending order of importance. If you've written too much, you can cut the story from the bottom without losing the most important points.

As an editor, you should be using a consistent style and your English should be correct. Word Processor style sheets are one help, but they can't do everything. For example, should you use "maybe" or "perhaps"?

Capitals are often a problem. The simple rule is "if in doubt, leave them out". For example, "church" is correct for a building or group of Christians. "The Church", when referring to the universal body of Christ is capitalised as is a name: "St. Mary's Church". The vicar, church treasurer and chairman of the PCC probably won't like the fact that lower case for their titles is correct!! Unless, that is, the title is used as part of their name. "The church needs a new pastor" is correct capitalisation, but capitalising "P" in this sentence is correct because it is treated as part of a name: "The treasurer invited Pastor Smith to have a meal".

Foreign words and phrases are sometimes italicised. Does this rule apply to "ex-officio" (also should the hyphen be there)? What about "ad hoc"?

Make sure you know about frequently misused words, e.g. "imply" and "infer". A guide to using apostrophes is here.

There are some excellent books to help get your English right.

When English isn't English

There are differences in English and American spellings. In the USA "-ize" ends words in the UK it is "-ise". In England, colour, honour and saviour are among the words that include a penultimate "u". "Programme" is English, "program" is American (except in the computing context!). Other English speaking countries have other variants.

The point is, you should write what is correct for your audience. The challenge comes when you are writing for an international audience (e.g. the world wide web). You will then have to cope with idioms and vocabulary that may not be universally understood (e.g. "Mind how you go" in the UK better expressed as "Take care" in the US. An American may need "a wrench to fix his truck" but the English man will want "a spanner to mend his lorry." And once it is repaired (! -says he taking a mid-Atlantic word!) the American will happily drive along the pavement. You can't do that in England. "Pavement" is the term English people use for "Sidewalk".

So what do you?

My suggestion is to write in your native version of English. (Christian Computer Art is based in the famous university city of Cambridge in the UK so this site uses English English.) If you're from a non-English speaking country, just do your best! If your English is good enough, aim for British (or international) English. However if your audience is mainly US or Japan, use American English. Choose a style and stick to it. Don't mix styles. If you're not sure about anything it's a good idea to get someone in the target country to comment on it before publishing.