WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Grammar Minute: Fiction Tip- Create your own Style Guide

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

Make your own writing rules. Stand out on an editor's desk. Learn more on today's episode of Grammar Minute!

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language 60 seconds at a time. I'm Lauren Smith, and when I'm writing books, I make my own style guide. This does not mean that you can just throw out all the rules of writing and make up your own. But for long-form projects, it's actually a good idea to standardize in cases of grammatical doubt. This is especially true in fiction. Are you going to use the Oxford comma or not? Should ambiguous terms like administrator or bureau be capitalized and, under what circumstances. Save your future copy editor some time. Make a list of grammatically

ambiguous words or phrases, choose how you're going to write them, and reference that list whenever you use them so you don't forget. Clean, consistent writing is a major bonus when your work is sitting on an editor's desk among thousands of other manuscripts. That's your Grammar Minute. Visit Thegrammerminut.com for more tips and tricks.