At a glance / Separate decisions from open questions
| Item | Authority | State |
|---|---|---|
| Preferred name spelling | Author-approved form | Apply consistently |
| Historical street name | Source still to be checked | Query remains open |
| Quoted spelling | Inspected edition | Preserve as quoted |
Write decisions, not a diary
A style sheet is the compact record of choices another person needs to apply consistently. It should not reproduce a general manual or narrate every editorial conversation. Start with the project’s declared authority, then list departures that matter in this manuscript: spelling preference, numeral treatment, capitalization, citations, names, timeline, and recurring design instructions. Each line should let a proofreader make or query a decision without reconstructing your reasoning.
Give each item a home
Use stable headings such as General style, Characters and names, Places and institutions, Timeline, and References. Under names, record the exact form and variants: ‘M. J. Ortiz — spaces retained; first mention Mara J. Ortiz’. Under numbers, write ‘spell one to nine in running prose; use figures in measurements’. A decision that appears only in a comment balloon is not yet handed off.
Show the source boundary
Mark whether an entry comes from the author’s approved usage, a house rule, a cited source, or a provisional query. For a historical novel, ‘St Pauls, no apostrophe — author preference confirmed 19 September’ is different from ‘verify 1927 street name’. The first directs production; the second stays open. This distinction prevents a tentative inference from hardening into a silent house fact.
Run a small handoff test
Give a proofreader three pages containing a hyphenated compound, an uncommon name, a date, and a source citation. Ask them to resolve each using only the sheet and brief. If they must search email, the sheet is incomplete. The worked improvement is to replace ‘use usual style’ with ‘closed: email; open when noun: email address; retain quoted source spelling’. Specificity saves a later correction loop.
Close and version the record
At handoff, add project title, manuscript version, date, editor, and unresolved queries. Send the same authoritative copy to named recipients, rather than parallel revisions. CIEP guidance describes an editor’s style guide as a list passed on to the proofreader and cautions proofreaders not to improve copyediting unless asked. That makes the handoff a responsibility boundary as well as a convenience.
Retain resolved author queries only when they explain a durable decision; remove personal discussion that the next role does not need. If the author later changes a name spelling, update the sheet and tell recipients which version supersedes the prior one. A style sheet should make consistency easier, not become an unreviewed second manuscript. Its value lies in accountable decisions that can still be checked against the text, proof, source record, and approved editorial brief, by future collaborators working on later revised editions.
Sources & limits
A style sheet does not replace an agreed editorial brief, house style, or author consultation.
- Professional Practice Code
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading · Source undated · Consulted 19 Sept 2026A copyeditor’s style guide may be passed to the proofreader, who should follow it unless asked otherwise.
- Curriculum for Professional Development
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading · Source undated · Consulted 19 Sept 2026Editorial practice includes briefs, project style sheets, house style, and judgement in context.
Send a correction with the passage and supporting source.
