Style guide.

Did I scare you? For some people, it’s a frightening phrase because it’s one of those things you feel like you should already know what it is and now it’s too late to ask. But you don’t have to let it scare you anymore.

Many authors—even published ones—feel a bit fuzzy on what style guides actually are and why they matter. However, understanding them can make your manuscript more polished, your editing process smoother, and your series more consistent. If you write fantasy with complex world-building or romance with recurring characters, a solid grasp of style guidelines might even save your sanity.

What is a Style Guide?

At its core, a style guide is simply a set of standards for writing and formatting. Think of it as a rulebook for all those little decisions that grammar alone doesn’t answer. Should you write “ok” or “okay”? Do you use the Oxford comma? How do you format dialogue—with single quote marks or double quote marks?

Wait! I can choose between a single quote or a double quote mark? I thought the rule was a double quote mark?

Actually, this is a style choice. It is most common, in American English, for quotations to use a double quote mark, but in the UK, the single quote mark is more common. You see, grammar has rules that tell you what’s correct or incorrect (like subject-verb agreement), while style choices tell you how to handle things where multiple correct options exist. The important thing about style is to remain consistent throughout a manuscript, and even more, throughout a series.

This consistency is what separates a professional manuscript from one that feels uneven or amateurish. When your punctuation, capitalization, and formatting choices stay consistent from chapter one to chapter thirty, readers stay immersed in your story instead of getting jarred by inconsistencies.

Where to Start with Creating a Style Guide

The Chicago Manual of Style tends to be the standard for fiction publishing. Most traditional publishers use Chicago as their foundation, so if you’re submitting to agents or editors, your manuscript should generally follow Chicago guidelines. If you’re indie publishing, you’re welcome to choose your own style, but know most readers will be used to the styles followed by Chicago and thus may think anything that deviates is wrong.

Most personal style guides will start with a simple sentence like: Follow the rules set out in the Chicago Manual of Style and the spelling set out in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, except as indicated below. (Of course, I’m Canadian so I chose the CanOx, but you can choose whichever dictionary you prefer).

After this sentence, you want to note things in your style guide that you want to keep in mind. If they’re something you want to remember without looking them up each time (the Chicago Manual of Style and the dictionary you choose are rather large tomes), you can record them even if they don’t differ. Or, if you want to deviate from what your chosen guide and dictionary, your style guide is where you record this information.

Some areas to consider are:

• Punctuation:
  • Do you use a serial comma (the comma before “and” in a list)?
  • How do you format ellipses—with spaces or without?
  • How do you format em dashes—do they have spaces around them?
• Capitalization:
  • Are you capitalizing endearments like “sweetheart” or only nicknames?
  • What about particular words in your magic system?
• Numbers and dates:
  • Do you spell out “ten” but use numerals for “11”?
  • What about centuries—is it “21st century” or “twenty-first century”?
• Spelling:
  • Do you strictly adhere to the dictionary you chose or is there room for deviation? (e.g., I use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary but choose to use American spelling for realize, kilometer, and a few others)
  • How do you spell character names and nicknames (Is it “Katie” or “Katy”?), and place names?

Your Personal Author Style Sheet

Now, your style guide (like Chicago) and your author style sheet are two different things, though they work together. Your style guide tells you the general rules you’re following. Your author style sheet is where you track the specific details of your manuscript or series.

This is where you record all those decisions unique to your story. Beyond the spelling of character names and place names we mentioned earlier, you’ll want to track made-up terminology and world-building details. In fantasy, you might note whether magic users are “Mages,” “mages,” or “MAGES.” In romance, you might record specific terms of endearment each character uses or details about how you handle internal dialogue.

If you’re writing a series, this becomes absolutely crucial. Without a style sheet, you’ll be flipping through previous books trying to remember whether your character’s eyes were blue or green by book three, or whether that magical artifact was the “Amulet of Seeing” or the “Amulet of Sight.”

To help you get started, I’ve created a free style sheet template you can download and customize for your own work. It includes sections for character details, place names, style preferences, and more—everything you need to keep your manuscript consistent. Simply sign up to my newsletter and you will get the link to the style guide template.

You can use any tool that works for you: a Word document, a Google Doc, a spreadsheet, or even Notion. The key is keeping it updated as you write and making these choices deliberately, not accidentally. When you know the rules, you can break them with purpose.

Style Decisions for Romance and Fantasy Authors

Both romance and fantasy authors face unique style challenges that go beyond what a typical style guide covers.

Fantasy authors are constantly making capitalization decisions when building entire worlds. Royal titles, magical systems, creature names, religious terms—these all need consistent treatment. Does your world have a “High Priestess” or a “high priestess”? Is it the “Kingdom of Shadows” or the “kingdom of shadows”? You’ll make many judgment calls based on your specific world, and those decisions need to go in your style sheet.

Romance authors have their own considerations. Creating a series of standalone novels needs almost as much world building as a fantasy novel, even if you’re basing your story in a real-world city. Are you staying close to that real city’s layout and infrastructure? Or are you creating fictionalized versions of them all? What endearments are used? What are your characters’ eye colours, hair colours, and heights? You don’t want to have a main character described one way in their book, only to change it when they’re on page in a later story.

Both genres often deal with time period questions, too. Historical fantasy or historical romance requires decisions about archaic language, outdated technology, or period-specific details while keeping your prose accessible to modern readers. Your style sheet should note these choices so you don’t accidentally mix Regency-era language with Victorian terms.

Working with an Editor

Here’s where having both your style guide and style sheet really pays off. When you hire an editor, providing these documents upfront saves everyone time and frustration. Your editor can see your intentional choices and won’t waste energy “correcting” things you’ve deliberately chosen.

Professional editors will ask about your style preferences early in the process. Being able to hand them a document that says “I follow Chicago except for X, Y, and Z” shows you’re serious about your craft.

Build Your Style Foundation

Style guides and style sheets might seem like extra work, but they actually make your writing life easier. When you’re not wasting mental energy trying to remember whether you capitalized “duke” three chapters ago, you can focus on what really matters—creating compelling characters and gripping plots.

You don’t need to master every detail of your style guide immediately or create the perfect style sheet before you write a single word. Start simple: make a few key decisions about punctuation and capitalization, begin tracking your character and world details as they appear, and build from there.

Download that free style sheet template and start filling it in as you write. Your future self—and your editor—will thank you.