We've done our best to make SSAT's editorial standards an easy-to-access document. The PDF format has a clickable index and links throughout, and all style rules are listed alphabetically. Still, I think any house style document takes a bit of getting used to.
If you're using a style guide for the first time, here's a few tips to get started.
- Skim the whole document once to familiarise yourself with the layout.
- While you're skimming, pick out one style issue you learn for the first time. Write it down on a Post-it note.
- Think of the one style rule you always need to check, or can never remember. Look it up and write down what you find.
- Identify 3 style issues that most affect your own work. Look them up and write them down too.
- Your Post-it note should now have 5 rules on it. Stick it somewhere visible on your desk as a handy guide.
Remember: using editorial standards makes our writing more consistent, helps the organisation to appear more professional and can save you time!
Great advice! Unfortunately, not enough writers and editors follow a corporate style guide -- if one even exists. One Internet giant has a corporate style guide, but it is largely ignored by all of its writers and editors -- much to its embarrassment. Ignore guidelines at your peril! Your writing could end up on one of hundreds of Web sites dedicated to grammatical, spelling, and logic errors. That's what has happened to Yahoo, which is now the subject of the blog Terribly Write, which daily chronicles the gaffes that appear on its pages. -- Laura (at http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com)
ReplyDelete