Which style guide should i use

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Email Address. Instead, it is a condensed version of the original manual focusing on the needs of student writers in all fields of study. Comments Thank you Erin, I am taking a course and was questioning why I was advised something was incorrect. Hi, Stefanie. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Search the site Never Miss a Tutorial!

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts. Email: erin erinwrightwriting. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And all of these guides have tidbits to copy. Ready to create your own style guide that meshes with your branding? Use our Style Guide Template and make it your own. Every day, thousands of companies rely on Upland to get their jobs done simply and effectively.

See how brands are putting Upland to work. No more excuses. University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina Chapel style guideline is an interactive online reference for informing the overall voice, tonality, design, writing style, and image of the UNC brand. Why Is It Useful? Great Takeaway Look internally at possible common problems, and address those upfront in your style guide.

Great Takeaway One of my favorite elements of this style guide, though, is how closely it follows its own guidelines. Prepare yourself for awesome: Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out.

Never use the passive where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. The perfect introduction for anyone looking to write for such an authoritative publication. Great Takeaway I love the way Gov.

Bring Some Style to your Content Ready to create your own style guide that meshes with your branding? Niche or field: Lots of niche style guides exist for industries or academic fields, like chemistry or sociology, to address unique issues.

What is AP style? Who uses AP style? How often is AP style updated? What is Chicago Manual of Style? Who uses Chicago Manual of Style? How often is Chicago style updated? What is APA style? Who uses APA style? How often is APA style updated? What is MLA style? Who uses MLA style? How often is MLA style updated? Popular guides journalists use to complement or supplement AP style include: The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage provides additional and alternative guidance to the AP Stylebook, like recommending the use of courtesy titles instead of referring to a subject just by their last name e.

Diversity Style Guide is a project of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University that gathers guidance from several organizations to help media cover people of diverse races, ethnicities, genders, abilities and more.

Conscious Style Guide includes guidance on usage, framing and representation to be inclusive and respectful of any audience. The Bluebook citation guide for legal professionals and scholars. Popular guides for technical writing for formal reports and user manuals include: Microsoft Manual of Style IBM DeveloperWorks Editorial Style Guide Handbook of Technical Writing Other books about writing Some commercial books about writing are not authoritative in any industry, but writers and editors keep them on hand for style and usage recommendations.

White, a well-known guide detailing just a few rules of grammar and punctuation, composition and formatting, and a list of commonly misused words and phrases. Garner, a witty reference book on grammar and vocabulary.

House style guides and book style sheets Any publication or company you write for likely has a house or corporate style guide. Some major triggers: Headline capitalization: AP style uses sentence case, while Chicago uses title case, and APA uses each in different situations.

House style is often different from any of these. Punctuation: Notably, guides differ in their recommendations for the Oxford comma, the percent symbol, hyphens and dashes. Numbers: Whether to spell a number or use a figure varies among style guides and even within each, depending on how you use the number. Also look up how to handle dates, ages and time. Compound words: Recommendations for compounds change quickly, especially as words become common.

Check a current guide for whether to write health care, healthcare, or health-care , for example. Abbreviations and acronyms: Should you use a state abbreviation like Fla. In acronyms like U. AP says yes, Chicago says you can go either way. Guides also include preferences for formatting bulleted lists, block quotes, sentence spacing and more. Brand names: Will you use camel case for eBay and iPhone? All-caps for IKEA? A hyphen in Wal-Mart or Walmart? Style guides make recommendations, but this is another area house style should address more thoroughly for your audience.

AP style, complementary media guides and APA style include up-to-date guidance based on common usage and recommendations from advocacy groups. Kick your writing style up a notch Knowing how to use a style guide boosts your value as a writer. Just me? About the Author: Dana Sitar Dana Sitar danasitar has been writing and editing since , covering personal finance, careers, and digital media.

Filed Under: Craft. May 25, at pm. Cathy McNally says:.