If you’re a new(ish) author and/or have never worked with a professional copy editor, you might not be familiar with style guides. Even if you’ve heard of them, but don’t exactly know what they are or how they can help you, read on!
Style guides, also known as style sheets, are essentially a tool for the writer/copy editor/proofreader to keep track of all that’s going on in your manuscript. It’s a guide for how specific items are handled, such as, are you using the Oxford comma? Do you want spaces around your em dashes and ellipses? How are you formatting text messages in your story? And what about your characters — did your main female lead have blue eyes or green?
Why is all of this important? Well, you want to keep things consistent in your writing; it will make your book look more polished and professional. Also, using a style guide can be a big time-saver. Imagine this: you’re trying to remember if you italicized the text messages sent between characters or if you formatted them in bold print. It’s much easier (and quicker) to refer to your style guide than search through the document looking for any instances of texting. It also ensures that you and your editor(s) and proofreader(s) are on the same page (pun intended!) with the technical aspects.
Publishing houses, companies, and websites all use house style guides to keep their writing consistent and professional-looking.
Using a style guide can become especially useful if you’re writing a series (very common in the romance genre). Once the style guide is created for the first in your series, it can be referenced over time as each new book is written. Imagine how much time you’ll save by simply referring to your style guide about a character’s physical attributes or a business name!
Another item that can be noted in a style guide: the timeline. How many times have you gone back in your manuscript to determine if the sequence of events line up? I know I’ve spent a lot of minutes deciding if a timeline jives in numerous books I’ve edited.
Style guides also list references used while editing, like the CMOS (Chicago Manual of Style) and Merriam-Webster (they’re the fiction editor’s accepted standard in the US and Canada). Using such standards also keeps things consistent and professional in your manuscript. Whenever I have a question while editing, these are my trusted resources used to research how to punctuate, capitalize, format, etc.
So who creates the style guide for your work? As the writer, you can create a style guide for your use and any others who will be working on your document. If not produced by the author, it’s typically the copy editor’s responsibility to create the style guide and share it with the writer. When I’m working with a first-time client, and a style guide isn’t provided, I like to share my guide with the author after I’ve edited the first chapter. This allows the writer to make any adjustments to the style before I’ve worked too long on edits.
What’s included in a style guide? Here’s what I usually include in my clients’ guides:
Title of the book (can be a working title)
Author’s name
Editor’s name
References used
Style (Is it US English? What tense? POV?)
Punctuation (e.g., internal and terminal commas around or before words like also, too, either, and though in the middle of a sentence or at the end)
Numbers (e.g., spell out one through ninety-nine)
Typesetting (e.g., thoughts/memories set in italics)
Capitalization (e.g., capitalize family titles except when used with possessive pronouns — Dad but my dad)
Places
Characters
Timeline
Word List
Readers can become frustrated if your manuscript has consistent errors, which can affect your book’s ratings. A style guide helps avoid those errors.
Do you currently use a style guide when writing? What do you like to include in your style guide? Let me know in the comments!
CM Wheary Editing 