If You’re a Writer, You Need a Personal Style Guide.
Here’s how to create one.
In the late 1990s, I was baby newspaper reporter in the actual Armpit of America.
When I showed up for my first day on the job, there was an AP Style Guide on my desk. That little yellow book was a revelation to me. It had all the rules, all neatly indexed, right there for me.
Should I write out numbers or use numerals? Is there a period after Dr? Should I use an Oxford comma?
Later, as a student studying English, I used the MLA (or Modern Language Association) style guide. Same deal, slightly different rules.
And now, as a novelist? I mostly use my very own personalized style guide.
My first novel was published by an imprint of Penguin in 2012. Pretty soon after turning in my draft, I got it back all copyedited. And it came with a personal style guide.
The copy editor who worked on my novel created it for me, filling it with all of the edits they had…