Today I want to talk about a subject I don’t see addressed much on blogging sites or even journalism sites – choosing a style guide for your writing. Now the reason you won’t see journalism sites addressing the issue in this manner is that journalism has an accepted style guide — the AP or Associated Press style guide. Journalists and reporters follow the AP style guide so that stories can be exchanged or sold to more than one newspaper or news media outlet without the work having to be rewritten to fit a particular newspapers individual style guide. So, if you plan to work closely with the news media, the AP style guide is probably the style guide you want to follow.
But what if you want your blog to be more casual or even more academic? Then you may want to look at other style guides. Journalists sometimes forget (or perhaps don’t realize) that the AP style is not the only style out there. Publishers of fiction often use the Chicago Manual of Style for their works. While some grammar rules are going to be the same between both guides, the Chicago Manual of Style is less focused on saving space in newspaper columns. Academics often use the MLA or Modern Language Associate style guide since this guide has a strong focus on presenting quotes and academic citations in works. It could be a bit formal for a blog, but perhaps your blog is dedicated to the study of literature. There are other style guides used by scientific journals. You can even find the National Geographic style guide online.
All of these style guides are designed to do one thing – create consistency in the works being presented. Choosing one to follow for your blog will help you do the same thing – create a foundation for consistency. You can then develop your own guidelines for when you want your individual style to vary from the guides. All of this will help you present yourself in a professional manner in the blogging world.