Writing with Style

At this point let’s slide off topic for a moment to briefly discuss

formatting the story. This is more than margins, spacing, and fonts, a lot more, and much of this really needs to occur as the story evolves to save time, to make fewer mistakes, ultimately to produce a professional manuscript before handing it to an editor.

Differing disciplines use different styles. In journalism I adhered to the Associated Press Style Handbook (AP Style). Depending on the field, academia and professional publications generally use MLA or APA. Since 1906 when the University of Chicago Press published the first style guide, the Chicago Manual of Style has become the accepted template for publishing.

Unfortunately, many writers jump on their story and put it down any old way they want, and then submit it. Sorry, but that really doesn’t work. Readers have come expect consistency which translates into professionalism. Do you know when and when not to use italics? How to present numbers? Display names of people, places, and things? How to handle foreign words? That only scratches the surface of what is contained in the 1,600+ pages of the CMS.

You can see what the 16th Edition of the Chicago Manual contains by going here: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/contents.html where you will see the Table of Contents. After accessing this page follow links to look at the contents of various chapters.

• Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Part One: The Publishing Process
  1 Books and Journals
  2 Manuscript Preparation, Manuscript Editing, and Proofreading
  3 Illustrations and Tables
  4 Rights, Permissions, and Copyright Administration by William S. Strong
Part Two: Style and Usage
  5 Grammar and UsagebyBryan A. Garner
  6 Punctuation
  7 Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and Compounds
  8 Names and Terms
  9 Numbers
10 Abbreviations
11 Foreign Languages
12 Mathematics in Type
13 Quotations and Dialogue
Part Three: Documentation
14 Documentation I: Notes and Bibliography
15 Documentation II: Author-Date References
16 Indexes
Appendix A: Production and Digital Technology
Appendix B: Glossary
Bibliography
Index
 

Have you taken time to look at how a book is laid out from cover to cover? What sort of things should appear on the various pages leading up to the story? That’s in Part 1. And take a gander at Part 1, chapter 4. Beginning with the 15th edition the reader will find recommendations for producing electronic publications, including web-based content and e-books in Appendix A. 

Does it make any difference whether you follow this style? I recently reviewed a book produced by one of the smaller publishers that’s been around since 1866. Their printed works are very good, but the electronic reproduction was an unprofessional joke offered at an unrealistic price. What happened? Whoever set the electronic version was either new or incompetent, and their supervision lacking. If a professional publisher can distribute something like that, what about the thousands of books flooding the self-published market? It's your reputation that's a stake.

I’ve taken some heat for what I am about to suggest, but let’s look at reality. Self-publishers aren’t rich, so the 16th Edition (2010) might be a bit steep for the budget at around $40. The 15th Edition (2003) can be had for $4.50 (used) to $11.00 (new). This was the first edition addressing the electronic world. The 14th Edition (1993) goes for $0.01 (used) to around $10.00 (new). The 15th and 16th editions are available for online access at $35.00 a year. 

My heresy? I still use the 14th Edition while composing and for print layout because the writing formats really haven’t change. My suggestion to the self-publisher is to grab at copy of the 15th Edition, and then go to the library to look up the information on electronic formatting, and make notes (just like going back to school).

Whether self-publishing, or trying to attract an agent or publisher, you want to impress your target audience by looking professional. That means following the Chicago Manual of Style, and save time and headaches by doing most of it on the creative fly.

Anatomy of a Story is produced twice each month following the creation of a novel by Sean Patrick O'Mordha.

(copyright Sean Patrick O'Mordha 2013)