Recipe for a Style Guide

Wired Online has recently announced its plans to drop capitalization in internet, web, and net, but Wired Magazine continues to capitalize these words. Which should you do? For the most part, it's up to you. To ensure consistency on such tricky words, most editors will have a style guide.

This kind of style is the way you present yourself in words as well as the mechanics of words. Style addresses physical and editorial conventions.

If you don't have the luxury of creating one, there are a few excellent resources for your use. The ap style guide and ap style guide are the bibles for many editors. When you need to cite another source, use theap style guide or ap style guide for the rules. Just want a simple, small book you can carry with you? ap style guide is a winner.

Be warned that none of the cookbooks has a reference to words like "e-mail" and don't resolve all the issues you may encounter. In this case, you could refer to ap style guide. Here's what it says about E- words:

"In general, avoid forming new words with 'e-' (for electronic) unless you know your audience will understand. Some words that may be appropriate in certain circumstances are 'e-commerce' and 'e-money.' 'E-mail' and 'e-form' are acceptable. Use lowercase and always hyphenate for clarity."

Here's where creating your own recipe comes in. You can use a few other recipes and throw in your own modifications to come up with what best fits your tastes. Of course, we want to keep our readers in mind when creating the guide.

Start by thinking about the topics you write about. If it is high tech, then it helps to explore all the terms along with the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Check out the ap style guide or ap style guide. If you're in another field, then you'll want to explorer for a similar resource. ap style guide has a radio style guide and the ap style guide is for writers and editors. Example of style guides for building Web sites include Lynch and Horton's ap style guide and New York Public Library's ap style guide. For those in medicine, University of Washington presents the most frequently used entries from the ap style guide.

The next ingredient to tackle is physical conventions. For instance, when starting a new paragraph, do you indent or use a double hard return? What font size, face, and style will you use for titles? Will the titles be capitalized or in sentence case? This is similar to a cookbook. All the recipes are formatted the same way. Even CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a recipe since it ensures formatting consistency.

Once you make the tough decisions, the easy part comes next. You throw all the selected ingredients into one pan, or in this case, one document. The style guide should be organized to make it easy for your writers can find what they need.

Finally, put it where everyone can access it. It doesn't have to be a book. It can be a one or two page document. It's a living document that you can continuously revise. Heck, use a blogging tool to easily manage it.

Now back to the hard part, getting everyone to follow the new guide.

Meryl K. Evans, Content Maven, is the writer and editor of many articles and publications including eNewsletter Journal, Shavlik's The Remediator, and Web Design @ InformIT. To get your feed on things geeky, webby, and wordy or to subscribe to free newsletters, visit her site at ap style guide.

shuttle to Midway Beardstown .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare

---

Writing Short Info Reports

People want information, they want it quick, frequently in short... Read More

Writing Without Style

Style manuals are all well and good, and in fact,... Read More

Dreading the Writing Assignment? Outlines to the Rescue

Writing technical articles is a challenge. There you sit, surrounded... Read More

Ghostwriting - Making Money by Being Invisible

My bookcase take up one whole wall in the family... Read More

Editing and Polishing - How Much is Enough?

A few days ago, I critiqued a chapter for a... Read More

Recipe for a Style Guide

Wired Online has recently announced its plans to drop capitalization... Read More

Ferreting Out Work

FERRETING OUT WORK You keep hearing that there's work out... Read More

Get Rich Writing With Your Computer Word Processor

Your computer is a writing machine, a word processor, a... Read More

Why Book Writers Need A Running Mate

By far, I have found that the lack of discipline... Read More

How To Write Thank You Letters With Class

When I first started tracking the information preferences of people... Read More

Should You Write a Book?

One morning, you open your inbox and find several e-mails... Read More

7 Journaling Tips

Set your journal or diary where you will see it... Read More

Five Minute Miracles

FIVE MINUTES ... Is All You Need ........to phone a... Read More

The Myths of Writing: Have You Bought Into These?

There is an image most people carry of the artist... Read More

Get Your Writing Reviewed by Major Publications for Free

All Writers need the press, especially new writers. As a... Read More

Writing IS a Business

Why is it that so many people don't take writing-as-a-job... Read More

Writing as a Gift

What am I supposed to give Anthony as a wedding... Read More

Writing Styles for Fiction: Which Voice to Use

I recently set up a website to promote a new... Read More

What Is The Single Worst Mistake Most People Make When Writing Classified Ads?

All sales begin with some form of advertising whether it's... Read More

Freelance or Staff

There is no doubt that a staff writer enjoys advantages... Read More

Why Every Freelancer Should Have A Web Site

"Do I send samples, a media kit, or just the... Read More

Tell the World About You

You have a new website, or a new business, or... Read More

Dont Make This Huge Writing Mistake!

You can create a great headline, a dynamic first sentence,... Read More

Break in with Fillers: The Best Market for New Writers

Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new... Read More

Write Again! - The Art Of The Written Letter

Remember the days when we wrote with pen and paper?... Read More

Green Bay Hummer H2 SUV rentals ..