![]() Some publishers provide a style guide, a sort of house rules for writers. Generally speaking, though, for the writer a style sheet is an informal list that keeps track of the people and places.Ī style guide, OTOH, is more like a manual. Well, yeah, although IRL there is overlap. Thanks to copywriter and marketer Sara Lancaster for her FREE downloadable template.Deanna Hoak, star sf/f copyeditor of award-winning bestsellers, discusses the importance of style sheets.You can-and should-adopt it to your own preferences. Katherine O’Moore-Klopf of KOK edit shares a pro’s detailed and helpful pdf of a Pocket Books style sheet.Bottom line: Is a confused reader a reader who’s going to love bomb you with a five-star review?.Because if you don’t, you risk glitches like: Mary Ann? Who’s dat and what’s she doing in this story? Loulou’s Bakery? Which bakery is this and what’s it doing in this story? Add Marianne and Lulu’s Bakery to your style sheet. ![]() Suzie’s bff, Marianne, works at Lulu’s Bakery.Will save you from calling her Suzy Smith a few chapters later and makes sure you refer to her address as 21 Main Street. Add Suzie Smith and her address to your style sheet. Your heroine, Suzie Smith, lives at 21 Main Street.Your style sheet will save you from the insults of memory-and from yourself. A scar on the right side of your gunslinger’s face stays on the right side, doesn’t wander over to the left or completely disappear (at least not without a credible explanation).Or a rare, deadly viper from the jungles of Borneo. The MC’s dog does not suddenly become a cat. ![]() A guy’s crew cut remains a crew cut, and does not inexplicitly and out of the blue become a ponytail or a man bun.The six foot five inch tall zombie is six feet five inches tall, not five feet six inches tall.A blonde will stay blonde (unless a change in hair color is critical to the plot).Deal goes bye-bye.īrief character descriptions ensure that: or Jimmy Z, or, god forbid, Jane Z.? Better make it clear because a reader / agent / publisher who can’t figure out who’s doing what to who or what’s going on where will give up. You want to make certain your reader, potential agent or publisher, knows exactly which character is facing an attack by alien hordes while dangling off the edge of a cliff by the fingertips.Brown and confuse the hell out of your reader or the agent or editor you’re trying to sell. You don’t want him suddenly to become Jimmy Z. People - the names, the addresses, the hairdo’s It’s a map to the people and places in your book, a quality-control tool that provides coherence and consistency.Īnalogous to continuity in a movie, your style sheet will ensure, among other things, that your characters don’t suddenly change names, locations, marital status, gender ID, political affiliation - or worse - in the middle of your novel. It’s a handy way to keep track of all the important data-names, addresses, dates, people and places-in your manuscript.Ĭreating a style sheet is straightforward: the first time a character or place name (or any other data) is mentioned, add it to a list. In case you don’t know what a style sheet is and maybe have never even heard of one, a style sheet is basically a list. Publishers have cut back staffs and copyediting and proofreading, like a lot of things, ain’t what they used to be. ![]() If you plan to self-pub, a style sheet will save your sanity while you’re writing - and after because a style sheet will save you time and money when you hire an editor.Īnd if you’re interested in going Trad, you’ll want to have a style sheet, too. If you’re writing a book - fiction or non-fiction - (or a short story or a novella and especially a series), you need a style sheet. The style sheet is a writer’s secret power - and best friend.Ī style sheet will save you time, frustration, and money.Ī style sheet will save you from yourself and prevent you from making the kind of mistakes that will send readers fleeing and guarantee one-star reviews.
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