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Style guidelines are important for writers to produce polished and professional writing that meets the requirements of the organization. They include grammatical conventions, tone, and content. Following them ensures consistency and impresses the audience.
Style guidelines are precise directions for how language should be used and are an important tool for writers. Famous examples include the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook, but individual companies, institutions, and organizations also have their own guidelines. Style guidelines are extremely important because they define the desired format for a piece of written communication. By following them, the writer will produce a polished and professional piece of writing that meets the requirements of the organization the writer is working for.
Commonly, style guidelines include grammatical conventions. This is especially important with languages like English, where different grammatical forms may be technically correct. By indicating how things like citations and citations should be written, consistency is ensured. For example, some guidelines will clearly dictate how measurements, dates and numbers should be presented. A good style guide will also indicate how things should be written and which regional dialect is appropriate for writing. For example, many American-style guidelines state that American spelling should be used for words like color, theater, and recognize, rather than British spelling, which can be unfamiliar and confusing to American readers.
Typically, style guidelines also dictate the overall tone and content of a work. Typically the level of formality required in a writing is indicated, which will also inform the writer whether or not vulgarity and controversial subject matter are acceptable. Tone requirements vary widely not only from one industry to another, but also within an industry, as style guides for the New York Times and Washington Post reveal. Each organization has developed its own style, which contributes to the paper’s unique style, and readers have come to expect pieces that conform to these parameters. Copy editors are responsible for ensuring that authors comply with guidelines.
For professionalism, style guidelines are key. In journals, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other documents that require contributions from large numbers of writers, these rules help keep the work consistent so that readers aren’t shaken by personal stylistic choices that can vary. In academia, they help enforce clear discipline and also allow students to demonstrate that they can clearly follow directions. While style guidelines may seem burdensome at times, following the dictated guidelines as a writer can impress an audience and can be the difference between success and failure as a writer.
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