The Style Guide is 'Dead': Long Live the Dynamic Style Guide!

Nobody, least of all an editor like me, would argue that printed style guides are really dead--at least not in the sense that they're no longer with us and no longer useful. Yet there's no doubt that printed style guides are looking a little antequated these days. Despite how useful the guides are to writers and editors, they're simply too static for most writers, and don't take advantage of computer technology to make the writer's working life easier. But if you're thinking that online style guides are inherently better solutions, think again; using the computer to find static information certainly helps, but simply moving a paper guide online only exchanges one form of 'static' for another.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2003). Articles>Style Guides>Writing

The Style Guide is Dead: Long Live the Dynamic Style Guide  

Arguing that printed style guides are too static to be useful, Hart recommends using a dynamic style guide, a system of templates, macros, and reference materials that actually guides writers through their work. The article also advocates direct interaction between editors and writers as a non-technical approach to a dynamic style.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2000). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Style Guides

Style guides are used to provide a consistent look and feel. They should be defined as part of usability requirements and conformance should be monitored during development.

UsabilityNet. Articles>Web Design>Style Guides

Style Guides and Technical Writing

A style guide consists of formats used when creating documentation. Some companies maintain a formal style guide and adhere to strict documentation standards. Other companies may be more informal, but still maintain some semblance of a style guide, even if it is only an example of the documentation they create.

Taylor, Vicki M. Suite101 (2001). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Style Guides? Dictionaries? Who Cares?

You should! Whether you're a corporate or a freelance communicator, a style guide and a dictionary are among your most important tools. And all the departments in your company or your client's company should be using the same ones, designated by their communication departments.

Canavor, Natalie and Claire Meirowitz. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Style Sheets: The Abbreviated Answer  

As a project moves from writer to editor to designer and ack again, style sheets (abbreviated versions of style gides) offer quick access to answers during documentation development. Style sheets provide consistency, give a quick-reference point, set a project’s style from the beginning, eliminate confusion on major style points, and serve as a double check during revision. Designed specifically for a project, style sheet formats include laminated sheets and standees, and content ranges from grammar references to contact information.

Dalton, Tracy. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Stylesheet or Stylesite? A Case Study  

CNET’s Stylesite for the Technology Department’s Documentation and Training group provides an online resource for writers and trainers. The continuing development of this tool encompasses site development, content creation, and a fluid process of drafting standards. The site observes many of the same rules 'imposed' upon the writers, and offers them a rare opportunity to collaborate with their editor in the production of a manual of style.

Hanoch, Craig. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Style Guides>Web Design

Technical Writing Rules You Didn't Learn in RHET 101  

To hyphenate or not to hyphenate, that is the question. As compound nouns evolve over time in Eng- lish, they gradually move from being written 'open' (data base) to being hyphenated (data-base) to being written 'closed' (database). Just where your particular word might be in its evolution is often un- clear and subject to the inscrutable and highly individual logic of copy editors. Consult a recent edition of a standard dictionary.

Elliott, Celia M. University of Illinois. Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Terminology and Spelling for Web-Related Concepts

Generally speaking, 'Web' as a short form of 'World Wide Web' is capitalized, with one exception (webmaster). However, your company style may prefer the lower-case version.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Tips for Technical Writers

Begin by getting familiar with your corporate style. If there is no existing style guide, either review existing manuals to determine what has been done in the past ( Pay special attention to the language, assumed prior knowledge, general organization and presentation of how-tos (task-based or informational)) or choose a style guide.

Hanvey, Jeff. Suite101. Articles>Style Guides

Understanding the Importance of Style Guides

Style guides describe conventions for virtually every aspect of writing, ranging from such things as spelling, punctuation, and word usage, to structural and formatting issues. With the myriad of style guides in use, the dilemma for many writers is deciding which one to learn and apply in the trade. The answer to this is easy: learn at least one style guide thoroughly and keep a selected few others for backup. In the course of recruiting technical and generalist writers and editors for nearly a decade, I am sometimes shocked at the low level of familiarity with long-established style guides by people who claim to be seasoned professionals in this business. The reality is that it is plainly obvious to spot writers who “claim” to know a style guide and those who have actually taken the time to study it. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. The quality and consistency of a writer’s or editor’s output is the litmus test to how proficient he or she is in applying a given style guide.

Zvalo, Peter. Writer's Block (2002). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Usage Experts Change Their Minds, Too

Many terms and constructions frowned on a generation ago have been admitted, like many new words, into mainstream parlance and have gained wider acceptance than before. An example is tycoon, in the sense of a wealthy businessman, labeled 'informal' in the first edition of AHD but accepted in the third. Another example is balding, called 'entirely vulgar' in a usage note by panelist Katherine Anne Porter in the first edition but entered without stigma in the third.

Soukhanov, Anne H. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Articles>Style Guides>Editing

The Use of Capitals

The question to the list-subscribers was I am looking for studies dealing with the difference between small letters and capitals. Are small letters easier to read? In France, road signs are written in capitals but it is not the case in the US or Canada.

Gaviero-Villatte, Elisa. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Style Guides>Grammar

Use of Hyphens

This page collects a series of notes from readers of my newsletter, and my responses to those notes, arising from an article in issue 60, 13 May 2002. I thank those who took the time to write and explain why some hyphen usage is considered to be correct or incorrect.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Grammar

User Attitudes Toward Corporate Style Guides: A Survey    

Little information is known on user attitudes toward corporate style guides (CSGs). A national survey shows that an overwhelming 93% of users and 85% of non-users advocate CSG usage primarily to generate consistency in documents, to save time generating documents, and to create a professional look in documents. As corporations face the future by restructuring, usually by downsizing, and by competing more in a global economy, CSG usage will be more prevalent in corporate America, as the results of this survey indicate that CSGs are an economical quality tool that benefits both the user and the corporation.

Allen, Paul R. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Style Guides

Using 'Which' and 'That'

'That' clauses form a sense unit with the word they're attached to, and that's why they aren't preceded by a comma.

Right Words. Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Using a Doc Spec for Printed Books  

All technical documentation projects benefit from a good content plan or 'doc spec.' The doc spec is a blueprint for a document. It identifies the product, users, source materials, and subject matter experts (SMEs). It also provides a preliminary outline of topics and estimates the work effort to produce the document. The doc spec template is simply a tool that guides you through the document planning and estimating process. Your customized doc spec serves as a record of the who, what, when, why, and how of your project.

Wing, Elizabeth. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Using a Style Guide to Build Consensus

Style guides are often requested as a way to promote a common look and feel but do little to address the real problems in the way user interfaces are developed. In many situations, a collection of rules for visual design and the use of controls can seem like a band-aid; promoting surface-level consistency rather than solving the real usability problems. Even when a good style guide is created, it is often ignored after release. Worse, the style guide can become a weapon where a user-centered design process is needed. In either case, the style guide has failed to produce the desired effect. What’s missing is a consensus on the scope, ownership, or content. Solving this problem requires a change in the way style guides are developed, distributed, and used. Three suggestions for teams developing style guides are to start early, to make the emerging style guide widely available, and to plan for long-term maintenance of the guidelines.

Quesenbery, Whitney. Usability Interface (2001). Articles>Style Guides

Using a WWW Development Design Document to Create a Comprehensive Web Site  

Technical Communicators are eminently qualified for Web publishing as it is a natural extension of our writing abilities. However, we must be careful to avoid the pitfalls of Web publishing and contribute to the host of glamorous Web sites that lack content, are difficult to navigate, and do not satisfy the ultimate goals of the organization or institution the site represents. One proven technique for planning and implementing a Web site is the creation of a WWW Development Design Document. By championing the development of this document, communicators return to their knowledge roots of organization and writing.

Faure, MacKenzie, Amey Celoria and Cecilia Kullberg. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Web Design>Style Guides

Using Manual Quality Tables To Improve Manual Quality  

Technical writers need to decide what information is to go into a manual, and in how much detail. Such decisions can have a crucial effect on manual quality. Poor decisions can result in published manuals that lack required information, contain unsuitable or unnecessary information, or repeat information in other manuals. To help make better decisions, Hitachi technical writers use Manual Quality Tables. The tables specify what type of information is to go into a manual, the required level of detail, and sources for the information. These tables enable writers to itemize the required contents of a manual before starting to write the manual. In addition, during later revisions, the tables enable writers or reviewers to easily discover any topics that were left out in the original version.

Sudo, Hideki. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Verbs with -ize: Efficient or to Be ... Ostracized?

A discussion of whether neologisms such as 'prioritize' have 'arrived' yet.

Packard, Robyn. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

When Metaphors Fail to Keep Their Distance

Was I being too literal when I made the following change? I don't think so. A name-brand financial columnist wrote the following paragraph in a piece about Web-based credit cards: Most issuers mail you a plastic card, usually a MasterCard or Visa, which you also can use in stores. At Citibank, however, plastic has become uncool. Instead, it's offering ClickCredit, a virtual card (www.clickcredit.com). It acts like a credit card, but exists only in Citi's computer. You use it solely for making purchases on the Web. The problem is, I have one of these Citibank cards, and while it's true that it's not an ordinary credit card that you carry around in your wallet and use at stores, it's also true that the ClickCredit people do mail you a card, and it's made of plastic.

Walsh, Bill. Slot, The (2001). Articles>Style Guides>Marketing>Tropes

When Technical Writers Don't Write Technically  

Technical writers are often asked to write more than just end-user manuals or online help systems. Due to company size, layoffs, or a lack of resources, the technical writer might also be expected to deliver marketing communication collateral, Web site content, training materials, and more. These additional tasks can daunt those who have not been formally trained in other writing styles or those who do not switch writing styles easily.

Statt, Ronald A. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Technical Writing

Writing Consistently Across Media: Ten Proofreading Tips

Last time I wrote about consistency in online writing. Soon after, I received an email from Leslie Drechsler, a reader in Tustin, CA: 'As a Marketing Communications Specialist, I'd love to hear your ideas on how to successfully implement consistency in an established business,' she wrote. 'I thought developing a company style guide would solve the problem. But perhaps there are other ways to approach it. 'Perhaps this could be the subject of another article.' Here's that article, Leslie.

Henning, Kathy. ClickZ (2001). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Writing