A 'Style Guide' is Your Friend

No matter whether you write for yourself or for an employer, you should always use a style guide. 

Personally, I like the Associated Press Style Guide. The AP Style Guide is the most popular today. It's used for website content, and the majority of print content. Virtually any publication or site that has a young or youngish audience is going to use the AP Style guide. 

If the publication you work for is reserved or conservative, such as The Wall Street Journal or perhaps a law journal, they might use a competing publication called the Chicago Manual of Style. The Chicago style guide is voluminous and harder to follow, but they both serve a purpose, and of course, the ability to search online makes tasks much easier. 

Finally, some companies may also use the Gregg Reference Manual, while the medical industry uses the AMA (American Medical Association) Manual of Style, which you would need to be familiar with if you were applying for a writing or editing job with a medical publication. 

What would you use a style guide for? 

A style guide ensures that your language is always consistent. If, for instance, you want to know whether you should write 'e-mail' or 'email', 'Internet' or 'internet', 'e-commerce' or 'eCommerce'—check your company's preferred style guide. 

If you're not sure whether a certain word or words is a proper noun or a common noun, check your style guide. For example: In 'President Obama', the word President is capitalized because it is a title. But when used generically as in 'The president called for calm in the city today,' it should be lower case. 

How can you an answer to your question by looking in your style guide?

The AP Style Guide is in alphabetical order, so if you were looking up Internet you'd simply look in the section for the letter I. However, the best way to access a style guide today is online. I maintain a subscription to apstyleguide.com for just $20 a year. There is a search box and most of the things I need to find can be done by using the search box. 

As a writer or editor, the right style guide is going to be a valuable and necessary asset throughout your entire career. Keep it handy, whether it's through a mobile app or a hard copy on your desk. and you can feel confident that your work will always be polished and will meet your company's style requirements.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.