When you are writing do you spell out numbers?
255 vs two hundred and fifty-five
Which is better? Why?
><10 write it out
>>10 use the numerals
>>7372508
and if it is exactly 10, use '11 minus one'
>>7372493
Yes, it looks better. Numbers seem to disturb the text and make it look ugly and administrative.
"John went to the market and bought five apples.
"John went to the market and bought 5 apples."
The latter is text message tier.
In school they made me spell out the numbers from zero to twelve, after that it's 13, 14 and so on.
I feel like that makes at least some amount of sense.
>>7372493
Yes because it helps with the word count on essays :^)
>>7372689
>"13!"
No.
"THIRTEEN!"
>>7372527
>After wining the lottery John had two million six hundred and forty-two thousand eight hundred dollars.
>>7372762
Damn right. Adds emphasis. No numbers allowed ever.
>>7372762
if someone's idea of amusing prose is wordy quirky math
>>7372762
Check this out:
>After wining the lottery John had 2.64.2000 dollars to his name. Two million six hundred and forty-two thousand eight hundred dollars. Enough to pay back all his debt, buy the boat he had always dreamed of and nail every hooker in town twice. "Boy oh boy!", thought John, "That sure is a shit ton of money!"
I'm adding emphasis AND solving the issue at hand!
I will be accepting my literature prize now
>>7372493
Depends what you're writing. But generally the accepted rules are you write the numbers using words if it's one word. i.e. 'Fifty sheep' but '100 fish'.
Though if you are using different numbers in the same context within a sentence, paragraph, or piece, then you need to write them in the same way to ensure consistency. i.e. 'Mark bought one apple and four hundred pairs of socks'. Or ' Jenny has 400,000,000 views on her YouTube channel; Rob only has 7'.
There are, of course, exceptions. Dates for example should always be written using numerical symbols.
This applies for formal writing, letters, articles, web copy etc. If you're writing creatively then it's really up to the writer. Someone like DFW for example might choose to use numerical symbols when writing about marketing, whereas someone like Hemingway is most likely to use words when writing about war and fucking chicks.
It's all context.
My lit professor recommended using words. And I agree. Numbers are read differently from letters so they feel jarring and break the flow when they appear in the middle of a fiction book, completely surrounded by normal letters.
But if you're writing a scholary nonfiction book that often mentions years, you can use it. In fact, using numbers in those cases adds to clarity.
AP style (what journalists are taught to use) says numbers over ten get numerals.
It's more complicated than that, but that's the basic rule.
You write it out at the start of a sentence though -- unless it's a year.
"Fourteen sheep were sheared."
"1969 was a good year."
>>7373685
I agree with this.
>not creating your own logically and aesthetically consistent style
>relying on arbitrary and shifting guidelines
>>7372493
the convention for numbers is to spell them out if they are less than two digits and write them in numerical form if they exceed that.
>not recording your numbers using a unique pictographic system that normies can't understand
Literal plebs
>>7373752
poo in loo
Switch it up. Totally arbitrary. Keep them on their toes.
their 10 toes.
>>7372520
kek
>>7373685
>two thousand and fifteen
>not writing out the year in words
Costanza
>>7372753
you mean XIII
