Category: Editing

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Creating a Style Sheet for Your Website: Questions on Editorial Style

Nowadays, anyone can create their own website. Issues of design include branding, usability, and search engine optimization. Often, though, those creating websites overlook editorial style. When editing, copyeditors create a style sheet. This defines the editorial specifications for the manuscript. Such a tool is also useful for the creation of a professional-looking website. Consider these questions for stylistic choices:

  • What heading style do you want to use? Sentence case or title case (or even capitalization of every word)?
  • In title case, do you capitalize the second word in a hyphenated compound?
  • In a heading or after a sentence, do you capitalize the first word after a colon?
  • Do you want to use the serial comma?
  • Do you want to hyphenate prefixes and suffixes?
  • Do you want a space before and after an em dash?

Ultimately, the choice of style belongs to the website’s creator. A style sheet is a valuable guide that allows for consistent usage of style throughout a website.

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Hyphenation Matters: Heteronyms in a Manuscript

An example of word breaks in a popular design program. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong.

Hyphenation matters in a manuscript. Word processing and design software automatically insert end-of-line word breaks. Sometimes, though, the breaks are wrong, and writers must proofread for incorrect hyphenation in their manuscripts.

Heteronyms, words with the same spellings but different pronunciations and meanings, present a challenge when they break in different spots. The wrong break can result in ambiguity and amusing moments.

Present (Pre-sent/Pres-ent)

The bridal party wanted to play games before the shower presents. The verb form raises the question, what is the animated shower presenting?

Moped (Moped/Mo-ped)

Before the moose moped, a mouse meandered onto the dirt road. In the verb form, a mouse meanders onto the dirt road before the moose decides to feel sorry for itself. In the noun form, a mouse meanders in front of a moped designed for a moose.

If you meet this guy on a moped, run!

Crooked (Crooked/Crook-ed)

On the mountain road that crooked trees grew from the rocks. If the verb becomes an adjective, the mountain road no longer bends and the trees become gnarly and twisted.

Minute (Mi-nute/Min-ute)

Ralph rambled a rhythm at Minute Mic Night. If the break comes after the I, the microphone becomes tiny. If the break comes after the N, the performers have one minute to perform.

Resume (Re-sume/Re-su-me)

After writing resumes, Renee planned to write a riveting report. Renee is either a writer of resumes or she’s waiting for writing time to begin again.

Sake (Sake/Sa-ke)

For Sally’s sake, use fresh fruit such as pineapple. The break or lack of break tells whether Sally has a special recipe for sake or she dislikes or has allergies to other types of fruit.