Writing With Numbers? Here’s All You’ll Ever Need to Know!

Numbers, what…what is this doing here??? This is a blog on writing!

Yes, it is a blog on writing, but it is more so a blog on writing well, and that means being clear and concise so you can easily communicate your message when you’re writing with numbers.

To be honest, it’s easy to get numbers wrong, and when that happens, our writing and therefore our message is affected.

So let’s take a look at some rules for using numbers, plus some ways to make sure our writing is always clear, no matter how many numbers we are using.

Let’s dive into the numbers

Think numbers are easy? Then here’s a pop quiz! What’s wrong with this sentence?

2020 has been like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz, ripping us all up from our familiar lives and depositing us in a strange new world.

The answer: You can’t start a sentence with a number. If the writer had started instead with “The year 2020 has been like the tornado…,” it would be correctly written.

If you find you’ve started a sentence with a number, it usually takes little effort to fix it, as with the tweak I did to the sentence above. For example, consider this sentence:

86% of respondents admitted they spend too much time on Facebook.

I can easily move the number with changes like these:

• According to a recent survey, 86% of respondents admitted they spend too much time on Facebook.
• Not surprisingly, 86% of respondents admitted they spend too much time on Facebook.
• When asked, 86% of respondents admitted they spend too much time on Facebook.

If you realize you started a sentence with a written-out number, take the time to fix it, because it will take very little time to do so, but make you a better business writer when you do.

What if you can’t rewrite it?

What if you have no way to rewrite it and you must include the number at the beginning? Simply write it out and it will be correct, like this:

• Twenty twenty has been like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz, ripping us all up from our familiar lives and depositing us in a strange new world.
• Eighty-six percent of respondents admitted they spend too much time on Facebook.

As you can see, writing out the number can be awkward, as with the twenty twenty example, but the eighty-six example is okay.

How do you decide between writing out the number and rewriting the sentence so the number is not at the beginning? Go for clarity. Whatever makes your sentence easier for your reader to comprehend is the correct answer. 

Be consistent with how you use numbers

Let’s look at another way numbers can mess us up as writers or editors. The following paragraph has a number mistake. Do you see it?

Studies show ninth grade is the make-or-break year for high school students. When teachers fail to intervene with struggling students at the middle-school level, those students are likely to struggle even more in high school. Each course failed in 8th grade increases the odds of non-promotion from 9th to 10th grade by 16%. In addition, ninth graders have the lowest grade point average, and more misbehavior referrals than other high school grade levels.

The writer used both ninth grade and 9th grade (plus 8th and 10th). Either way is correct, either written out as ninth or as a number as 9th. But the writer needed to stick with one or the other.

Rules for using numbers when writing at work

Why am I talking about numbers in a writing blog? Because numbers can confuse our writing.

Numbers can get in the way of clarity because they are necessary but sometimes hard to communicate clearly in our business writing. To help you out, these are the basic rules for writing with numbers:

Rule 1: Write out the numbers one through nine, then switch to numbers from 10 on up as in this example:

Some six in 10 of consumers say they have a mobile device within reach for eight or more hours each day.

Rule 2: Switch from zeros to words when you get to millions:

210,300

$5 million

3.1 billion

Rule 3: Use hyphens for ages:

six-year-old boy

96-year-old man

Rule 4: Don’t start a sentence with a number. Either write out the number or rewrite the sentence, as in this example:

Over 70 percent say discounts are the main reason for using branded apps. Sixty-three percent say point awards are a reason for using a branded app.

Do you see how the second sentence starts with a number so the writer wrote it out as sixty-three, not 63?

Here’s another example done correctly:

Eighty-five percent report an increased openness among consumers and 84 percent say consumers place more value on experiences than before the pandemic.

The writer wrote out eighty-five because the number appeared at the beginning of the sentence.

That sums up the rules. Now let’s talk about clarity.

When your writing involves a lot of numbers, look for ways to make your numbers clear, not confusing. You can use bulleted lists, tables or charts to show numbers instead.

For example, compare this sentence full of numbers to the version below that’s a bulleted list:

The industry has a positive reputation, so that’s not what’s holding entrepreneurs back. One survey of 288 participants conducted in January 2020 found that 68% of entrepreneurs have a high regard for the industry, 73% of entrepreneurs believe the industry plays an important role in the nation’s economy, and 79% have positive opinions about the industry’s safety record with its 3% crash rate.

With the numbers listed instead, it’s easier to read this:

The industry has a positive reputation, so that’s not what’s holding entrepreneurs back. One survey of 288 participants conducted in January 2020 found:

• 68% of entrepreneurs have a high regard for the industry

• 73% of entrepreneurs believe the industry plays an important role in the nation’s economy

• 79% have positive opinions about the industry’s safety record with its 3% crash rate

You might wonder why I used numbers at the beginning of each list item after telling you to write them out. I can do that because these aren’t complete sentences. Plus, if I had written them out, the reader would have had to work to see the differences between the numbers. This way, the numbers are used to make the writer’s point in an instant because the reader can immediately comprehend them.

And what about percent vs. %?

You might have noticed that sometimes I used the word percent and sometimes I used the symbol %. Either is fine as long as you are consistent. Do not mix and match.

And that’s a wrap for numbers when writing at work! If anything was confusing, definitely let me know.

Photo by Black ice: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lots-of-numbers-1314543/