Writing in Style

A manuscript needs to have consistency in its mechanics. For example, this means punctuation in the same manner for each incidence of a specific construction, such as using a serial comma or not. Another would be which words and spelling forms of English (British, American, Canadian, South African, Australian, etc.) These matters of grammar taken together constitute the style of writing (not to be confused with a writer's voice, sometimes also referred to as style).

One of the Styles I mention on the Editing Services page is the Chicago, short for The Chicago Manual of Style, developed by the University of Chicago Press in the 1890's. The current edition is the 15th and geared for the newest copyright laws and electronic writing, editing and publishing.

Those Chicago guys are so hip, they even have an online version so that you don't have to buy a book and clumsily flip through it as you're trying to prepare your manuscript. With a couple of clicks you can try it out for a month at The Chicago Manual of Style Online: Free Trial.