Style Guides

Many beginning writers think that they can bend the rules or do whatever they like, and call it their “style.” As you gain writing success and get more familiar with the rules, you’re allowed certain liberties. As you become more adept at the rules, you also gain a better understanding of where you can bend them and still get away with it. So in your early days, be attentive to the way things are done, and worry about breaking the mold later. –from The Everything Improve Your Writing Book by Pamela Rice Hahn

Knowing the underlying principles of style helps you achieve consistency in your writing. Therefore, it’s important that you learn how to incorporate the correct style. (Only then can you determine when it’s okay to change it.) These style guides help you go into the depth necessary to determine the style needed for that writing.

	The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (15th Edition) by University of Chicago Press Staff (2006) University of Chicago Press While the MLA Style guide may be the choice for academic writing (unless your prof prefers otherwise), this style guide is the Bible for the book-publishing industry. … I love it because “Chicago” advocates the serial comma. Hurrah!
	Merriam-Webster’s Manual for Writers and Editors (1998) Merriam Webster If The Chicago Manual of Style is a little too expensive or unwieldy, or your needs are not quite so detail-oriented, this manual makes for a nice alternative. It’s not a book about writing; it is a style guide, starting with punctuation, capitals, and abbreviations and culminating in typography, printing, and binding. Sandwiched between are chapters on preparing scientific material for publication, dealing with foreign-language extracts, and creating tables and graphs. Footnotes, bibliographies, indexes, and the editing process also get their due. A much-revised edition of Webster’s Standard American Style Manual, this is a great resource for students, writers, and professionals alike. –Jane Steinberg, amazon.com review
	The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information by Anne M. Coghill and Lorrin R. Garson (2006) ACS Books
	The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors by Janet S. Dodd (1998) American Chemical Society A guideline for the American Chemistry Society (ACS) publications.
	American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors (AMA) by Cheryl Iverson (2007)
	The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation by Rene Jack Cappon (Editor), Jack Cappon (Editor) (2003) Perseus Publishing
	The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law by Norm Goldstein (Editor) (2007) Perseus Books
	The Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor (2006) Columbia University Press
	The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, Charles Osgood, Roger Angell
	The Essentials of MLA Style: A Guide to Documentation for Writers of Research Papers by Joseph F. Trimmer (1998) Mariner Books
	Franklin Covey Style Guide for Business and Technical by Franklin Covey, Franklin Covey Company Staff Book w/CD ROM edition (2000) Ingram - LaVergne
	Guide to MLA Documentation: With an Appendix on Apa Style (English Essentials) by Joseph F. Trimmer (1998) Houghton Mifflin Co.
	Mastering APA Style: Student’s Workbook and Training Guide by Harold Gelfand, Charles J. Walker, American Psychological Association (2002) American Psychological Association (APA)
	MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed) by Joseph Gibaldi (2003) Modern Language Association of America
	MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2d ed) by Joseph Gibaldi (1998) Modern Language Association of America
	New York Public Library Writer’s Guide to Style and Usage by Andrea Sutcliffe (Editor) (1994) HarperCollins
	The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World’s Most Authoritative Newspaper by Allan M. Siegal, William G. Connolly (2002) Three Rivers Press
	The Gregg Reference Manual (Gregg Reference Manual, 10th Ed) by William A. Sabin (2004) Glencoe McGraw Hill One writing instructor claims this manual has answered every grammar question she’s ever encountered.
	Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams (2008) Longman
	Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) by Joseph M. Williams (1995) University of Chicago Press
	Web Style Guide, 3rd edition by Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton (2009)
	Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites, Second Edition by Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton (2002)
	Words into Type by Marjorie E. Skillin, Robert Malcolm Gay (1974) Publisher: Pearson PTP This is the definitive text for questions of manuscript protocol, copyediting, style, grammar, and usage. For those who find The Chicago Manual of Style a bit cumbersome and sometimes ambiguous, Words Into Type will be a welcome reference guide. With its easy-to-use index and definitive explanations, this third edition makes life simpler for writers, editors, and proofreaders.
	A Writer’s Reference: With 2001 APA Guidelines by Diana Hacker (2002) St. Martin’s
	Developmental Exercises to Accompany a Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker, Wanda Van Goor (1999) St. Martin’s
	Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing by Marilyn Schwartz (1995) University Press

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