Style sheet

Education Resources from WritersServices.com

Use a style sheet to make your book consistent

Style is an individual thing - it can help or hinder the reader. The 'rules' can vary with the genre and readership. Whatever style you choose, be consistent.

Here are a few points to consider if you decide to have a style sheet.

Keep capital letters to a minimum. They have been shown to slow down the reader. Capitals are used for:

	The primary position in a sentence.
	Proper nouns such as names, as well as adjectives or adverbs derived from proper nouns.
	Titles of books, films etc.

Capitals should never be employed to emphasise certain points.

Quotation marks come in several styles - single, double, straight and curly. Single curly ones are often preferred, although traditionally double curly ones have been mostly used. You can reserve double quotes for the quotes within quotes.

Don't over-use quotes.

	It is fine to put quotes round a new word or term where you introduce and explain it. Thereafter, the word should appear without them.
	It is correct to use italics instead of quotes for foreign names, words or phrases. Italics are also generally used for book titles.

Apostrophes can also be straight or curly but must be consistent.

The font is normally a concern of the designer but there are some 'rules'.

The titles of books, papers, magazines, films and plays are in italic.

Bold can be used for headings but not within the body of the text.

Larger fonts can also look bold but avoid mixing font styles, as opposed to sizes.

Using bold or italic for emphasis is fine for comics but is it suitable for your novel?

The rules about numbers are as complex as they are variable. Consistency is the key to keeping the reader happy. Here are some guidelines:

	Spell out all numbers under 21 and any number that starts a sentence.
	Use numerals for all dates and most large numbers, but it is acceptable to spell out one hundred

One source of inconsistencies in punctuation marks is introduced when material is cut and pasted between documents or the work is moved between computers. If you have done this in assembling your book then spend some time doing search and replace to make all the marks consistent.

Take advantage of your word processor.

	The system is very good at picking up grammatical inconsistencies. However annoying you find many of the suggestions provided by the word processor, they are still worth checking to locate problems such as a single verb with a plural subject.
	You can tell your word processor the rules you want it to apply and set a range of styles so investigated the advanced settings.
	Make sure you have a consistent rule for the use of hyphens.
	Add any special names to the dictionary. This will ensure consistency.

All of these checks will help to make your manuscript as consistent and professionally presented as possible, and will prevent mistakes creeping into the finished text.

These articles are provide by writersservices.com for use as course material.

The articles are in a print-friendly format. Having trouble?