Why Do I Need a Style Sheet?
And who should create it?
Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
What’s a style sheet?
The most fundamental definition of a style sheet is that it’s an organized compilation of anything you note or standardize in a manuscript.
A style sheet, at its most basic, helps a writer to keep their details organized, whether those details are for a single book or a multi-book series. You may be the person who’s written the book, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always remember every detail in the same way a reader will.
What’s included on a style sheet?
Each style sheet is unique to that author or book/series, but the list of included items remains essentially the same across the board.
What to make note of:
names or name changes
places
author’s preferred style guide (this can vary from US to UK)
exceptions to any typical rules
preferred spellings
character quirks
physical characteristics
who died during the course of the book/series
family connections/essential history
anything you want to remember and not look up repeatedly from a style guide or dictionary
Think of a style sheet as your personal dictionary of preferences for each author you work with. Some may love comma splices (run-on sentences) in their dialogue but understand they should avoid them in the narrative. Some may prefer a combo of British and American English, as does one author I work with—she’s lived all over the world and has her own preferences.
Who’s going to notice these details?
Readers. Without a doubt.
Your readers have seen your book once. If it’s terrific, they’ll hopefully reread it. But though you may have looked at your 80,000 words over and over through rewrites and multiple drafts, they’re seeing it all with fresh eyes, and believe me, they notice everything.
Even the great authors have to write things down. Christopher Tolkien explained in the foreword to The Hobbit Fiftieth Anniversary Edition that it was his own concern with consistency of details—even as a five-year-old—that prompted his father, J.R.R. Tolkien, to write a book that had originally been intended as a bedtime story told to his own children.
If, in a later draft, you changed your character’s name from John to Trent, you may not realize a few instances of “John” sneaking their way in, because John is a familiar name to you at that stage in the writing. But your readers (and hopefully, your editor) will immediately wonder who John is and why we haven’t met him yet.
What’s the best way to set up a style sheet?
There are a few different methods for setting up your style sheet but it all boils down to the way you like to work, and the book you’re writing.
A Document:
The most common types of style sheets are simple documents in Word. They’re often set up in sections for ease of use, as follows:
manuscript title, editor, style sources: in the US, this would be The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary; in the UK it would be New Hart’s Rules and the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors
style issues, including dialogue (are your interior thoughts in italics?), punctuation (serial comma or not, for example), numbers/numerals, capitalizations, hyphenation rules between parts of speech, and other items
word & style consistency list: organized alphabetically in a running list or in blocks with letter groupings
characters: name, age, occupation, related characters, physical description, and any other notables (a vegan character wouldn’t be ordering steak and eggs for breakfast)
places/setting: if you’re writing about a real area, make sure it’s spelled correctly and the general demographics are accurate
timeline: for sequential events, to ensure the timing distances traveled are realistic, for age changes/anniversaries, or anything else time-related that needs consistency
other notables for the author (frequently used words/phrases, plot inconsistencies), though these are often dealt with throughout the MS with margin notes or queries
I’ve seen some wonderfully detailed style sheets done with word processing programs, and no matter how organized they are, I still gravitate toward my own preferred method: a spreadsheet.
A Spreadsheet:
The simplicity of using a spreadsheet, for me, is that I can tab between categories (or other books by that same author) to check for consistency without scrolling endlessly or keeping multiple documents open.
My average spreadsheet contains the following tabs/sheets:
characters: I keep a separate column for first and last names (and nicknames), occupation, species (I work with a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, so the characters aren’t often human), physical characteristics, where they’re from, and miscellaneous notes that don’t fit anywhere else
places: columns include the name, what it is (a city? country? moon? swamp?), location, and any notables
special terms: author-created words and languages unique to that book/series (days of the week, cultural insults, etc.)
style specifics: numerals for measurements but spelled-out numbers for everything else, for example, or noting whether/how something is italicized in dialogue versus in the narrative
The advantage of a spreadsheet over a document style sheet
Using my spreadsheet method, I can sort by characters with the same last name/same tribe, everyone with blue eyes, all non-human species, all who serve on the same starship, everyone with the same military rank—you get the idea. The flexibility of it is my favorite part.
And sorting by a particular column can really come in handy when you realize most of your characters all have names that start with S, for example. Or that you have characters named Will, William, Willis, Mr. Williamson, Mr. Wilkes, and Mrs. Williams.
Unlike a document-type of style sheet, where each book needs its own document, I can use a spreadsheet for multiple books by the same author without bogging down the amount of information to sort through. Each book has its own tab for characters and specifics, but I can copy and paste style items without having to rediscover or re-research them each time.
One of the authors I work with has two separate book series, and I have a spreadsheet for each one. I was able to easily duplicate the sheets that crossed over (her style and preferences) while creating the other tabs with each series’ unique set of characters.
One frivolous reason I love spreadsheets is that they have COLOR! I love using color for easy sorting. I have my own code that helps me to find what I need at a glance.
In a military space opera series I edited, there were—as you’d expect—many battles fought. Having a colorful spreadsheet helped me to easily recall whose starship was damaged (yellow) during a fight and whose was destroyed (red). I could also quickly determine who died in the previous book and should not have made an appearance in the current one.
When there are hundreds of characters, it’s easy to get confused over who was a captain in the last book but an admiral in this one, or who was a navigator at the beginning of the manuscript but is now being addressed as an engineer in a later chapter.
I leave colorful reminders for myself by changing a cell color to flag a question for the author, or just to tap myself on the shoulder so I don’t forget to go back to chapter three and look up that punctuation rule I didn’t have time to research earlier.
Really, though, I just enjoy seeing nice colors when I’m working, and if that’s what makes it more fun, then I’m all for it.
Whose job is it to create the style sheet?
I always appreciate when an author has created a style sheet to share with me. I’m sure most writers have their own versions of style sheets, character notebooks, and more, but I get the idea that they see those things as tools for themselves while writing.
And that’s fine, because I don’t need to know each character’s backstory, or the history of the made-up town. I only need to know the parts that make it into the book.
Having a style sheet included when a manuscript arrives in my inbox is a treat. But more often than not, I create my own. It’s part of my editing process, so it doesn’t feel like anything extra, or a chore. It’s simply what I need to do my job well.
The fruit is well worth the effort
I share my style sheet with the author when I’m done with the first round of edits. This helps both of us. The author now has something to share with a proofreader if they hire one after copyediting, so the proofreader knows the decision-making behind certain style choices.
This is when the author can also clarify anything I have questions about. The second round of edits goes quickly when decisions have already been made.
Additionally, if they’re working on a multi-book series, the shared style sheet enables an author to head off a lot of consistency issues before the MS ever gets to me. This helps to keep their editing costs lower, too.
In short, it’s never a bad idea to create a style sheet. Whichever method you choose, tailor it to your own style and your own needs, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without one.
