Editorial resources for writers, editors, and wearers of multiple hats.
I recently asked an online content group for links to "style guides." There were several responses, including many links to "design guides," as in guidelines for interface design: layout, colors, fonts, and so on. Interesting stuff to be sure, but not precisely what I was looking for.
I was looking for editorial style guides, such as The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS), AP Stylebook, and so on. Not that these aren't excellent resources, but if you're on a budget (as I was), you might be interested in freely available resources.
If you're interested in editorial style guides, here's what I've gathered so far:
Editorial style resources
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18F Content Guide: A "clear writing" resource.
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American Physiological Society (APS) Manual of Style. An earlier version is also available and worth reviewing.
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AP vs Chicago compares differences between the AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style.
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Blue Book of Grammar: Extensive, but a bit hard to read.
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Chicago Manual of Style Online: Subscription required, but search occasionally returns useful tidbits.
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Daily Writing Tips offers advice for common (and uncommon) writing questions.
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Dojo (JavaScript library) documentation style guide.
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English Phrases explains the meaning and origins of common phrases and iodoms. (UK).
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Google's Developer Documentation Style Guide. For user experience (UX) guidelines, see their Material Style Guide.
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GrammarCheck.net provides helpful infographics and grammar review.
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Microsoft Writing Style Guide represents the latest ideas and practices used in docs.microsoft.com; it supersedes and replaces the Microsoft Manual of Style (MMoS) and the Microsoft Guide to Technical Publications (MSTP). If you're familiar with the earlier works, take time to review the new guidelines.
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Microsoft REST API Guidelines.
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National Archives (NARA) - Principles for Plain Language and Style Guide (PDF).
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Perdue University Online Writing Library (OWL)
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The Punctuation Guide: An interesting interface, but a bit light on content.
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Rackspace Documentation Guide offers sage advice while breaking a other few rules.
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Salesforce Documentation Style Guide.
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Washington State University's Common English Errors.
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Writing Explained is a very interesting resource that combines information from multiple sources, including summarizing rules from the Chicago Manual of Style, AP Stylebook, and other sources. Highly recommended.
Editorials and guidance from other technical writers:
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James Cooke: The Communication Illusion.
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James Cooke: REST API documentation templates in Markdown.
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Tom Johnson introduces Simplified Technical English.
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Sean Madsen's Elegant Documentation Principles.
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Bob Reselman's 7 rules for creating world class docs.
If you have other resources, please feel free to share them. I'll update these lists from time to time.
Revision History
- 6 May 2018: Reviewing and updating.
- 8 Mar 2017: Synchronizing with latest updates.
- 7 Feb 2017: Adding "Writing Explained" and reworking resource presentation.
- 31 Jan 2017: Adding "Elegant Document Principles," fixing typos, and fleshing out attributions.
- 30 Jan 2017: Original post.