MU recommends following the guidelines of the Chicago Manual of Style and, for spelling, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. The guidelines in a style guide help writers to produce documentation that has the same tone and grammatical style, regardless of … Preferred dictionary. They may be adapted—or even ignore… You can also include information on how you prefer to style bullet points, hyphens, and quotations. The purpose of the Writing Style Guide is to provide style consistency in all EIA content. Formatting Style Guide Standard for: Explanation of standard: Character Restriction If there are limits to the number of words, lines, or characters for any individual element in the course, specify that here. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. Use these examples to explain how you'd like to see tone of voice used. “Mirror” the language of the people about whom you are writing; take the time to ask what terminology a person or group prefers, or to find out how they describe themselves. Generally, we follow the United States Government Publishing Office Style Manual spelling guidance, but we do use some exceptions. Some people say it helps reduce confusion, while others say it's not necessary. Cite it. This page is a collection of style guides created by government agencies. Each heading should be a link to the appropriate section. Mailchimp’s content style guide and voice and tone guide, served as great references throughout our process. When writing your style guide, start by laying out the structure so you know what you want to include. Starting with the very basics, a useful writing style guide for blog contributors will detail specific, desired formatting information. The authority on APA Style and the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual. Have someone else proofread it before letting it go live. In general, the use of the Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style is preferred. If you’re the head of marketing and frustrated that the tone of voice in your company’s external documents is at odds with your brand, a style guide can help. For multiple-step procedures in numbered lists: 1. Place page numbers indicating where these headings are justified to the right. If you have a specific question that isn’t addressed in the USAGov Platform Style Guide, consult the United States Government Publishing Office Style Manual. You can also list preferred acronyms on this page. Notes on wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. MU recommends following the guidelines of the, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Do not capitalize a title when it appears in a sentence after the individual’s name (e.g., Joanna Hawkins, professor of biology). The style guide features updated direction and new guidance for subjects that weren't around when the last edition was released. Another option is alternating between "he" and "she" on different examples. The Microsoft Writing Style Guide replaces the Microsoft Manual of Style, a respected source of editorial guidance for the tech community for more than 20 years. But when documents get incredibly long, it can become a little hard to use on a day-to-day basis. Even the best writers can use reminders on … writing. Don't be too formal or too conversational. Write it. Always use person-focused language: In your sentence structure, place the person before the description, e.g., “a student with a disability” (rather than “a disabled student.”) Use language that focuses on abilities and skills over limitations. A style guide also can be a way to foster content authenticity by containing instructions for all parties creating content for your company. For instance, you might you like the casual style of a few blog posts someone wrote. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/d6\/Write-a-Style-Guide-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Style-Guide-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/d\/d6\/Write-a-Style-Guide-Step-1.jpg\/aid9745385-v4-728px-Write-a-Style-Guide-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"