Writing Lessons from Thunderbirds

I was recently reading through Matt Leacock's rules for Thunderbirds, which he is editing live on googledocs. In his editing notes, he raises some interesting points that should be taken on board by anybody writing game rules
  • Players "do" actions rather than "take" actions. This is a tip he got from Tom Lehmann and the phrasing is used for the sake of localisation and to prevent any possible confusion or complication - particularly with those who speak English as a second language. Likewise, you can use "do actions" in place of other wordy alternatives like "perform actions".
  • Avoid writing acronyms and abbreviations. An obvious one really, but acronyms can sneak in if we happen to think they are common knowledge. Fans of Thunderbirds, for instance, would have no problem with TB1, but it's utterly alienating for other players. Even acronyms like FBI should be presented in our rules in their fullest form at first - we should avoid just assuming that players will know the meaning. 
  • If you're making a game set in space, then watch out for the word "space" - it can refer to spaces on the board or outer-space and is another possible source of confusion.
Bonus Nerd Fact: F.A.B., used in Thunderbirds, is not really an acronym as it doesn't stand for anything. Gerry Anderson just liked the sound of it.