3 Reasons Why Style Sheets Are An Author's Friend

Recently a friend of mine asked if I would proofread a short story for her and I asked if she had a style sheet. It got me thinking how style sheets aren’t just for editors, but can help out authors as well.

There are different kinds of style sheets, and often a proofreader or copy editor in particular will ask if you created a style sheet that they can use when they edit or proofread your work. They use style sheets for keeping track of punctuation preferences (Oxford comma: yes or no?); spellings of names and places (especially in fantasy novels!); formatting preferences; etc. If I get feedback from readers asking for more on this, I can write another blog talking about those kinds of style sheets.

But let’s talk about what I use them for as a developmental editor, which are most likely to be things you’d find useful when you’re writing your first or second draft–and honestly have nothing to do with punctuation (though for the record, I’m a huge fan of the Oxford comma).

1.Track Your Rules

Do you forget if you’ve mentioned certain things that will be important to your story? World-building rules, rules of magic, maybe clues for the mystery? Some writers don’t worry about it and just keep going, leaving a note for their future self (or editor) to sort it out. Others backtrack for hours until they find out if they mentioned alien species A is vegetarian or if a particular group of magicins requires tools for their work. If you’re the second writer, keeping track of these details can save you time and frustration.

These don’t even have to be things that all go word for word into the book. If you’re writing sci-fi or fantasy and creating other species, you may write everything you can think of for the species for yourself, but then work out ways to show the details instead of telling them.

2.Inconsistencies Be Gone!

I will literally jot down quick descriptions of each room in a house if my writer gives lots of details, because I have to assume they are going to be important later on and I need to keep track to make sure the blue china vase in the guest bedroom stays there unless there’s a specific reason for it to move to the library. There are times this has helped and I’ve caught the crime on the second floor in one chapter but the third floor in another chapter.

Think these are small things? Consider some books you’ve read where the character’s eyes change from blue to brown half way through –and you caught it. Readers notice inconsistencies, even without taking notes, and when they pile up it might be something a reader considers before they pick up another book from that author. Keeping track of what you know will be important helps lessen the chance of those inconsistencies, and is one less thing to break the reader out of the narrative flow.

3.One Location For It All

A style sheet doesn’t have to be fancy. I usually use Excel spreadsheets, but a simple Word document can work just as well. The important thing is that you have everything you need in one easy-to-find location. Are you creating a town? All the details are in one place: buildings, geography details, spellings, how to get from one place to another, etc. Same if you’re inventing a language. Your dictionary gets its own page. Keeping track of characters, their story arcs or where certain things occur can be important, and I’ve always found it useful to track at least some basic plot points in the books I edit. It helps me when I reread the story if I have thoughts about pacing in particular.

What Goes In a Style Sheet?

The details you want to keep track of will vary to an extent depending on your genre. Sci-fi and fantasy will have more world-building rules or language sheet possibilities to keep track of than, for instance, a cozy mystery. But plenty of things should go into any style sheet to help you keep some order to your writing world:

• The World: This doesn’t mean only a made-up world. It can just as easily be present day Atlanta for your contemporary romance. You still need to track:

  • Locations: describe the locations, significant buildings, landscapes, unique features. How does your character interact with them? Distances with each other your character needs to deal with?

  • Geography:Does your reader need to know about mountains, rivers, etc. where your story takes place?

  • Cultures and customs: What does your reader need to know about the language, traditions, food, jobs, clothes, etc. that you can show them that will immerse them in the world of your characters?

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• Plot: You may just track some key turning points that move your story forward, but you may find it helps to pinpoint where these things happened- even if you just track it to the chapter

  
  

• Timeline: You may keep this general, but sometimes it may be critical to keep a detailed timeline

  • When plotting a mystery you’ll need to know who knows what, when they discover clues or red herrings, etc.

  • Does your book use flashbacks or time travel? I recently edited a book where every other chapter was in a different year- which meant keeping careful track of what happened when to make sure things didn’t get out of order!

  

  • Ex: You’ll notice on the right I give an example of a basic timeline style sheet. What I write in the next column (but haven’t included here for auhor privacy reasons) would be some basic plot points that occur in each chapter. In this example, I’m tracking the arc of the day because it’s a mystery novel and I needed to track what is discovered over the course of the day to make sure it all worked timing wise. Obviously, depending on the book, you might track time differently for your needs. I do recommend noting chapters, since that will help you find things when you go back looking for them in revisions.

    
    

• Characters: Character sheets can be their own thing, and I may do a separate post on them at some point, but if you want to keep it simple, make sure you track:

  • Appearance

  • Story arc: are they growing they way your plot needs them too? Keeping pace with what else is happening in the story? Do you know certain things need to happen at certain times? Keep track of what happens when.

Do I really need to use this?

That depends on you. You need to keep track of all of this information to make sure your book is consistent and detailed. What system are you using? If you have a system that works better for you, then absolutely use it! Successful writing is all about what works for you. Just remember a few basic things. When you revise your work, can you find the pieces you need? If you decide to rearrange scenes or remove characters, do you have a way to track the cascading effect of that move? Do you have a simple way of updating your work to reflect those changes?

A style guide may or may not be something you want to create while you’re in the heat of first draft creativity, but I definitely recommend it (or something like it) when you go back to look at your first round of revisions. Your future self (and your editor) will thank you!

Are you looking for a writing, marketing coach or a developmental editor? Contact me and let’s talk about your project!