Are you shopping around for a good stylebook? If you aren’t, I think you should.
A good style manual helps you answer usage and syntax issues when it comes to your work. Ever wondered whether you should hyphenate a term, capitalize a name or abbreviate a unit? A stylebook resolves that, giving you the proper structure for accepted publishing styles.
The more you work using standard publication usage, the more you make a habit of work that reflects professional quality. If you’ve ever fancied being a published writer or author, you should really strive towards following a stylebook during your writing activities.
There are many style guides out there, each one fostering some differences depending on the people behind them and the publications that helped shape their usage rules. Books like the Chicago Manual of Style and Words Into Type are excellent ones to have on hand if you make any sort of living (or plan to) as a professional writer.
While I still keep a stylebook handy (I have the second title above), I now use a more “high tech” style manual for my actual writing. It’s not a book either. Instead, I use a style checking software.
These software-based style manuals don’t work like regular books. Instead of being a reference you can “check up” every time you’re in a bind, they do even better. With such a tool, you can simply continue to write in whatever way is easier. Then, later on, all you have to do is run the software and have it check your writing for adherence to the particular style. It’s an overall easier way to work, not to mention a lot more effective.
I highly recommend you check them out.
