Fiction Tip: Create Your Own Style Guide

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and when I’m writing books, I make my own style guide. This doesn’t mean you can just throw out all the rules of writing and make up your own. But for long-form projects, it’s a good idea to standardize in cases of grammatical doubt. This is especially true in fiction. Are you going to use the Oxford comma or not? Should ambiguous terms like “Administrator” or “Bureau” be capitalized, and under what circumstances? Save your future copy editor some time. Make a list of grammatically ambiguous words or phrases, choose how you’re going to write them, and reference the list when in doubt. Clean, consistent writing is a major bonus when your work is sitting on an editor’s desk. That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.