After publishing last week’s article on creating a standard style list, I received such amazing feedback that I decided to dispense with a feature article this week and go straight to the Readers Write column. There’s enough information here to keep you reading, thinking, and implementing for some time, and I owe my thanks in particular to Eric Fletcher, LeAnne Baird (with comments from Roger Shuttleworth), and Wordmeister Steve Hudson. Enjoy!
Last week’s newsletter explained the importance of using styles consistently in Microsoft Word, with a promise that this week I’d share my standard style list. As you look at the list, keep in mind that it was developed for styling books. If you work mostly on journals or magazines, your list will probably look quite different. I’m sharing my list primarily to give you an idea of what a fairly complete standardized list might look like. If you can use it or adapt it for what you do, great.
In the early days of printing, the “source” for the words on a printed page was the metal type used in the press. Once the pages had been printed, the type was removed from the printing forms and resorted into bins, completely destroying the source text. Producing a new edition of the book meant setting, proofreading, and correcting the type all over again–an enormous investment of time and money.