Writers use style guides (also called style sheets) to effectively and clearly communicate with their audiences; editors use style guides to make sure they’ve done that!
There are essentially three kinds of editorial style guides, the guidelines on how text, tables, images, video, and layout should consistently appear in your publications. In this post I talk about what style guides are. Here, I define the types of style guides and how to make one yourself.
Types of Editorial Style Guides
Industry and Academic Style Guide Publications
There are many style guide publications available for use; each one caters to a specific audience or industry. For example, the Denver Service Center (DSC) Editing Reference Manual is used by communicators at the National Park Service’s Denver office. Many style guide publications are available both bound and online, others just bound. Here are links to online versions of some commonly used style guides.
- American Psychological Association (APA) Style: typically used by authors in the social and behavioral sciences
- Associated Press (AP) Stylebook: typically used by journalists
- Chicago Manual of Style: typically used by corporations and research organizations
- U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Style Manual: typically used for U.S. government publications
Click here for a thorough list of style guides.
House Style Guides
An organization fortunate enough to have an in-house communications department provides its writing and editorial teams with a house style guide (or sheet). Organizations that can’t afford the time to create and maintain house style guides hire freelancers to create them.
Not only must employed writers and editors conform to the house style, contracted freelance writers and editors must as well.
Freelancers’ Style Guides
Freelance writers and editors who have editorial control over their clients’ publications create their own style guides to ensure text is expressed consistently and effectively throughout a publication.
Getting Started: How to Create an Editorial Style Guide (or Sheet)
The best template I’ve seen for creating a style guide from scratch is in Amy Einsohn’s The Copyeditor’s Handbook, Second Edition. You won’t miss a hairy detail if you use her template. And you’ll also realize how much thought goes into creating a style guide; someone has to make a lot of editorial decisions!
If you need to create a style guide right now, begin the decision making process of how you will consistently express and punctuate text, create and design tables, and post or insert images and video into your publication. Record these decisions on this grid:
Editorial Style Guide Template (download PDF; contact me if you would like this in MS Word format so you can modify it for your editorial needs)
Your List of Editorial Decisions
If you’re just beginning to create an editorial style guide, the list of editorial decisions below will get you headed in the right direction; but it is not exhaustive. Your editorial needs will drive the ultimate number of items on your style guide (or style sheet).
- Decide how you will spell, capitalize, punctuate, hyphenate, and italicize words in your manuscript. Provide an example for each editorial decision you make. For example:
abbreviation rule: In running text, write the full names of states.
example: I moved from Colorado to Montana last year.
abbreviation: In table text, and in table, image, and video labels, abbreviate names of states (or, use acronyms).
example: Colo., Mont., Ohio (or CO, MT, OH)
- Create rules you will use for how the following will appear in your text:
- abbreviations
- bibliography
- citations
- content reproduction permissions
- dates
- headers and footers
- hyperlinks
- images and their labels
- lists (bulleted and numbered)
- names of people, titles, places, companies, and things
- notes
- numbers
- paragraph text and headers
- punctuation
- references
- table and their labels
- titles and subtitles
- miscellaneous items
- Create graphic guidelines for:
- typeface for headers, paragraphs, tables, lists (bulleted and numbered), and numbered text
- templates to use for newsletters, reports, and so on
- how company logos should appear: sizing, page position, and for what application
- your color palette expressed in html, RGB, or CYN values
- your photo or image gallery with full rights or permissions
Depending on the length of your project or the size of your organization, you may want to create a more lengthy publication (online or hard copy) of your editorial decisions, complete with examples of each decision and where to go (or whom to speak with) for help.
Here are some examples of editorial style guides for large organizations. The body of editorial decision making that went into these guides is impressive.
- World Bank Editorial Style Guide (PDF)
- UCSF School of Medicine (web)
- NETGEAR Editorial Style Guide (PDF)
Related Post
Editorial Style Guides–What Are They?
Rita Braun writes and edits B2B publications for people who research, teach, market, and sell. Take a look at her portfolio here, and contact her here.
