RE: Style Manual

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

When it comes to an in-house style manual, I see 
two options:

1) pre-emptive and,
2) after-the-fact

The first sad fact is that CMS, MSMoS and whatever else 
are looked at as big, intimidating, annoyingly-fussy 
documents that nobody is really going to study.

The second sad fact is that, except for the most anally
retentive types, most people (including those for whom 
English is not a first language) come with the built-in, 
nearly-inerradicable assumption that "I write just fine, 
thankyewverymuch!"

Combine those two. 

The result is that all references to the standard works 
will be corrective, remedial, after-the-fact. That is, 
you or some literate manager or some marketing type or 
some owner-of-the-corporate-look minion are going to 
spy something gawdawful. You will approach the offender 
with printout and red pen in hand, and you will refer 
to the standard works as justification for your various 
pronouncements.

With that in mind, when I write an in-house style guide, 

1) I point at the adopted standard work(s)
   a) CMS?
   b) MSoS?
   c) some (bleagh!) military standard?
   d) recommended dictionaries
   e) prescribed spelling/language style (i.e., 'Murrican 
      or Brit) and when/if each is appropriate.
2) I tell the reader where to find approved templates and 
   logos, and what are the blood-curdling penalties for 
   modifications or failure to use.
3) Then I jump into a few pages of stuff-people-usually-get-wrong,
   and WHY it's wrong, with examples. 

I try to keep it light, even humorous. My text includes stuff 
that is peculiar to our corporate look as well as stuff 
you'd find in Fowler, Strunk&White, Gordon... CMS... 
because my experience is that those items are FCOs 
(frequently committed offences :-) and that nobody is going 
to look it up because they all know they are wonderful 
writers anyway.

Ten pages, they can probably handle, especially if (as 
part of their orientation/indoctrination) they have to 
sign that they've actually read it.  Ahem!

Your Mileage May Vary.

/kevin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Swallow [mailto:bill_swallow -at- yahoo -dot- com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 2:01 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re: Style Manual
> 
> 
> > How would you design this manual? What elements
> > would you include?
> 
> I would design it with thought, wit, and probably a
> DTP tool of some sort. ;)
> 
> I'd include any and all elements that are not covered
> by the documents you already reference (CMS and
> MSMoS), and anything that differs slightly from these
> references. In other words, conventions, style
> definitions, department procedures, TW
> responsibilities, favorite beanie babies, a pointless
> quote from a forgotten author... oops, got carried
> away! ;)
> 
> Include info about things you want to control the
> look, feel, and function of, and design it so it
> acceptably fits your department's (or company's) needs.
> 

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