Style Sheet: Why Your Copyeditor Should Create One
What is a style sheet?
A style sheet is a guide created solely for your book. You can call it your manuscripts personal owner’s manual. The style sheet contains all the typographical style choices that were made by the author or publisher (i.e., how ellipses are spaced, are Oxford commas used, and how numbers are written).
They help copyeditors keep track of all the information written in the manuscript to help make sure everything stays consistent. Does Sally drive a red car in Chapter 1 but a blue truck in Chapter 16? Authors could easily make these mistakes. A copyeditor with a style sheet will be able to catch all the pesky little inconsistencies and query them so they can be corrected.
Why is a style sheet important?
You may be asking “But don’t you just follow the appointed style guide?” If the publisher or author wants to use The Chicago Manual of Style and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, doesn’t that cover all the rules? Well, yes. However, particularly in regards to fiction, rules can vary or just frankly be ignored for stylistic purposes. One of the best parts of working with fiction is that you don’t have to be a stickler for the rules. Therefore, fiction is one of the rare instances where rules are made to be broken.
A style sheet’s main job is to ensure consistency. Readers can be a finicky bunch. If they notice any part of a story that hasn’t remained consistent (like the example with Sally’s car above), they will wallow in it. A casual reader might not notice or care, but for a passionate reader, it can throw them off the story. I’ve had times where a little inconsistency has taken me right out of the story. Undoubtedly, that is the last thing an author wants.
What goes on a style sheet?
General Style
Every decision the copyeditor makes should be included on the style sheet.
- Alphabetical word list
- Anything that could be treated in more than one way
- Anything that needed to be looked up
- Any decision that could come up later on, such as in a sequel
Characters
Every detail that could later be contradicted should be on the style sheet.
- Name
- Physical description
- Personal details
- Phone numbers, email address, physical address, social media accounts
- Negative attributes
- Relationships
Places
- Descriptive phrases
- Names
- History
- Geography, Directions, and Distances
- Distinctions
- Business hours
- Exteriors
- Interiors
Timeline
- Any mention of time
- Seasons
- When event occurs
- Important character dates
- Historical events
- Time divisions
- Time zones
- Parallel timelines and flashbacks
- Scene breaks
If you are looking for more information on how to create a style sheet, I highly recommend The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider. This book goes into more detail about what information copyeditors should put on the style sheet and even includes helpful samples.
Summary
I hope this post helps new copyeditors to have a better understanding of style sheets. The good news is that there is no set framework for how they should be organized, unless you work for a publisher who has a particular way they want it structured.
In conclusion, I hope authors see that a good copyeditor does more than just read through a manuscript two or three times. We put in the time and effort to make sure that every detail stays consistent throughout the book or even a series. If a copyeditor’s fee sounds too good to be true—it is. I guarantee those low-cost copyeditors are not taking the time to create a style sheet, which increases the risk for missed errors.
I find it exciting and immensely helpful to read articles that unravel how demanding an editor’s job is. The concise length of your article truly saves time. The pointers work well for beginners in this industry.
Have a good day.
Thank you!
Greetings! Very useful advice within this article!
It’s the little changes that will make the biggest changes.
Many thanks for sharing!