In the title above, why did I keep 'in' and 'a' lowercase, but capitalize 'Style'? Why did I put that question mark in the previous sentence after the single quotation mark? Why did I use a single quotation mark instead of a double? If you've ever wondered about any of these things, you've been curious about writing style.
When writing nonfiction you want to get published, you’re generally going to need to choose a style (assuming you weren’t assigned one). Formal work is governed by a handful of standardized styles and you will want to use one. Often, if you’re writing for a particular journal or publisher, they’ll choose for you and require you to conform to it. If you’re writing on your own, which you choose will likely come down to the topic about which you are writing.
But what are the differences and why should you care?
The Big Three:
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS or, simply, Chicago)
First published in 1906, The Chicago Manual of Style is both the oldest and, by far, the most detailed and widely used of the Big Three. It includes not only preferences for citation but for grammar, spelling of certain terms, vocabulary usage guides and more. When in doubt, Chicago is probably the best way to go as it is so widely accepted and it’s the closest to vernacular American English usage in most cases. The latest edition is the 17th, published in 2017.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
First published in 1952, the APA manual of style is primarily used within the behavioral and social sciences. One of its stated goals is to provide guidance on using vocabulary that reduces bias in language. While extremely useful within the disciplines for which it is designed, particularly when writing about data and presenting study results, applying APA style to more general work can create a certain stiltedness. The latest edition is the 7th, published in 2019.
Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA)
First published in 1977, the MLA manual is the least thorough of the Big Three, focusing, as of its 6th edition, strictly on source documentation. You may remember being required to use MLA citations in middle- and/or high school. In the wider world, MLA is primarily used in the humanities. The latest edition is the 8th, published in 2016.
There is a huge array of more niche or industry-specific styles (e.g., Associate Press Style for journalism or American Medical Association Style for medicine/life sciences), but the Big Three are the main players. There is also the classic Elements of Style by Strunk and White that provides more general guidance on proper American English writing.
(Note that publishers also often have their own idiosyncratic in-house styles that you’ll need to pay attention to, though adherence to those will be more the domain of your editor.)
Who Cares?
Well, truly, most people don’t. But if you find yourself needing to write something more formal than an email or a blog post (or if you like writing formal blog posts), choosing the most appropriate style can help your writing be cleaner and more well-understood by your intended audience. And those are goals any serious writer should have!
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