O.C. Writers

By DeAnna Cameron //

If you aren’t familiar with a style guide, it’s basically a writer’s cheat sheet—a document kept in handwritten, printed, or digital form (or any combination of those) where writers keep track of style choices, as well as tricky grammar and punctuation issues that tend to come up repeatedly.

If nurtured, this helpful, personalized guide has the potential to be one of the most important tools in a writer’s self-editing toolbox. But where do you start?

Creating a Style Guide

Since a style guide is basically a list, there really isn’t a wrong way to create one. It can be a notebook or notepad you keep handy as you write or an electronic document you keep open on the computer. Use whatever feels natural to you and will be easiest for you to use consistently, because that is the real secret to making a style guide effective: using it consistently.

Personally, I create a Microsoft Word document I keep open in the background as I write. That way, it’s accessible when I need to check something and allows me to add new things as I encounter them. I also like to keep things organized, with spellings in one section, punctuation in another, etc. As the style guide grows, I’ve found it’s a lot easier to do that in a computer document than a handwritten notebook.

Using a Style Guide

Once you make the choice about what form you want your style guide to take, the next step is to simply note your stylistic choices as they come up, such as alternate spellings (as mentioned HERE), frequently looked up words, punctuation and capitalization choices, and anything else that requires a writerly decision.

Also consider including frequently misspelled words or grammatical or punctuation errors you tend to make. For example, do you often write “then” when you mean “than”? Or do you forget that phrases like “freshly-baked” don’t require a hyphen? Note it in your style guide to help you remember.

Style Guide vs. Style Sheet

In general, the difference between a style guide and a style sheet is a matter of scope. A style guide usually contains information that can apply to any work-in-progress, and a style sheet usually applies to a specific manuscript. If used in this way, style sheets are the place to note character names and spellings, place names and spellings, and any unusual punctuation or capitalization used in the work.

Personally, I create a section within my style guide for story-specific information instead of creating a separate document because it’s always easier to keep track of a single document instead of two (or more).

Conclusion

Although a style guide requires a bit of effort to create, especially at first, you will find that it makes self-editing later a much easier and less time-consuming task.

QUESTION: Do you already have a style guide? I’d love to hear what you include in it.   

DEANNA CAMERON is the founder and managing director of O.C. Writers. She’s also a hybrid author currently writing YA dark fantasy as D.D. Croix and an occasional copy editor who’s never met an Oxford comma she didn’t like. Learn more at www.DDCroix.com.