Style Guides and Writing Today Part 2

Category: Tech Writer

Continued from Style Guides and Writing Today Part 1

I look at a style guide not as a rule book but as a mentor that sits beside me (or rather stored in my iPod, iPad or netbook) and reminds me that there is always a better way to write text. It's so easy to believe one's grammar is infallible or to chalk up a poorly written sentence as a result of "creativity". There's always room to improve any block of text. A style guide keeps an editor honest against their will. Editors (and managers) I've encountered often believe there's only way to write (i.e. their way or the "old way"). Self-proclaimed authors (which includes bloggers and fan fiction writers) believe that their style is superior to those who have come before - better than Hemingway, Conan Doyle, T.H. White, Maupassant, Poe and Twain. And yet they themselves have no personal style guide to adhere to.


"Where is my style guide?"
Screen capture from Love Actually (2003)

When an African, Jamaican or Japanese speaks English, there's a lovely almost ethereal rhythm to their choice of words and when they put it to paper/web, it shows. A style guide doesn't remove that distinct flavor but ensures that the text is universal nonetheless. The English language has evolved and so has writing. There is an element in any type of writing that defines the author though the text should avoid straying far from the audience, tone and theme. Unlike the old days, writing isn't easily classified as formal or informal (is a tweet formal or informal? how about a blog post?). A style guide keeps the writer in line and maintains consistency regardless of platform, medium or objective.

A recent visit to a forum for professional technical writers left a bad taste in my mouth when an American technical writer blasted an Indian for his poor grammar. He cited grammar rules, race, education and his years of experience as a professional. His written missives were derided by everyone else on the forum - no amount of "grammar expertise" can replace taste and tone. It's easier to catch and avoid a verbal Freudian than prevent oneself from typing words online that people will never forget. The American should have used a style guide on "courtesy" that day.

All writers should have their own internal style guide that keeps them true and lets their language and skill shine. Once put to paper, a personal writing style guide doesn't need to be as long as the AP Style Guide - it could be just five reminders to write in this way or that way. An example could be the spelling of e-mail/email or the formatting of PHP code (mono or italics). Another could be a reminder not to use too much popular culture references or colloquialisms. At the end of the day, a style guide should enhance the text and in the end, enhance the writer.