How Writers Can Save Time Using a Style Sheet

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Writing a book is not something you do in a day. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, creating a manuscript can take weeks, months, even years. And something that I’ve learned is expecting me to remember details from an earlier writing session is setting myself up for failure. Ain’t gonna happen.

What color was her eyes in chapter two? Did her neighbor drive up on a dirt bike or a four-wheeler? Was his name Max or Mac? If I’m not careful, I’lll spend most of my writing time thumbing back through the previous pages searching for details instead of enjoying ‘surfing the flow’.

This is where creating and using a style sheet comes in so handy. A style sheet lets you keep the details and choices you’ve made in your writing in one handy place.

Before we go any farther, let’s define a couple of terms. A style guide, like the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), is a manual that details the house style of a particular publisher, publication, etc. It’s the rule book. A style bible is used by screenwriters to keep the information for a group of writers on a particular show, episode, or season. A style sheet is what many editors use to record the information on characters, setting, general style, word spelling, etc. of a particular work. It’s the player’s handbook.

So, a style guide gives you the format and general style a publisher uses. A style guide is unique to that specific work.

A style sheet is a great tool for a writer. And you can start one at any time. It makes sense to start it when you start your book. Then you’re able to record the choices you make as you go along. Names, characters, dates, streets, spellings, hyphens all go on the sheet. Or you can start it when you begin your revisions. Just make a note of the details and anything that you or your partner might need to lookup. You can also create a style sheet after finishing the book; this will provide the information you may need should you decide to create a series.

Benefits When a Write Uses a Style Sheet

1. The Benefits of a Style Sheet

• A. One place shopping

You will still use a style guide like the CMOS and a dictionary for spelling. But I’m sure you can see the convenience of making a record for a particular story. You can find the answers to your decisions here. And if you’re writing with a co-writer, or when you hand your story to an editor, you have a document that shows the details and actions that are important to your story.

• B. Continuity

When you use a style sheet, you don’t have to face the same over and over. Will ‘email’ be written with or without a hyphen? What if your writing takes place in the nineties? Does that make a difference?

It also helps when you’re writing with someone else. And when you’re writing a series. Your reader will choose book two expecting it to be similar in style and characterization to book one. And your sheet will have the information you need without having to thumb back through book one.

• C. Time saver

You can keep this information in the notes and comments of Word and Scrivener, but with a style sheet, everything’s in one place. And since you’re the one creating the style sheet, you can organize it in whichever way makes the most sense to you.

2. Suggested Sections of a Style Sheet

The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider goes into more detail about creating your style sheet and what to include. She maintains her style sheet in four documents, but you can keep it on just a couple of pages. She breaks her sheet into four sections: general style, characters, places, and timeline. 

A. General style section includes places where you break from the regular style guide the publisher uses or the CMOS. The section also covers items with multiple possible formats, such as dates, times, heights, numbers, and punctuation. And anything that you had to look up can go here.

B. The character section may include a list of characters with their names, descriptions, attributes, and relationships. It includes animals and fantasy or science fiction figures. What do you need for ‘your’ story? Here you can track the description of the characters, quirks, the never and always like Ava has never eaten a kiwi.

Schneider recommends using chapter numbers, as page numbers will vary as you make changes to your story. She also suggests that you either list the names alphabetically or in categories, like family, friends, coworkers, others.

C. If your characters travel or you have characters in multiple areas, you may need a place section. In this section, you record streets, buildings, directions, right and left distinctions. Any record details that relate to the setting. The apartment was on the third floor. So, he can’t walk out of the backdoor into the garden without going downstairs.

D. You could need a timeline for your story. Whether you have multiple timelines, your saga covers decades, or it takes place in a week, it helps to record when and in what order the action happens. You don’t want your character leaving work at five o’clock, to go to a three o’clock doctor’s appointment.

E. You can use an alphabetical word list. These are words that are commonly used in your manuscript. Include words that have multiple spellings, hyphens, unfamiliar words, or words that you find yourself looking up.

The important thing to remember about your style sheet is that it’s there to help you. Add what you need. Organize it in a way that works for you. It can either be online where you can quickly make changes, or you can write it in a notebook. Keep it simple. Write in it what you need and only what you need. The two important things are about a style sheet is that it has the information you need and that the information is easy to locate.

The goal for making a style sheet is to help you. Not to add another task to your already too long list. In software design, there’s the principle of good enough (POGE). The quick and simple design is better than a more complicated system. It’s the same with your style sheet. Make it a tool that enables you to more efficiently spend your time writing.

I hope you find this tool beneficial. What inconsistency have you found in a story that made you sit up? I would love to see it in the comments. 

Happy writing.

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How Writers Can Save Time Using a Style Sheet from @TimSuddeth on @EdieMelson https://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/2025/05/how-writers-can-save-time-using-style.html #writing #writingtips

Tim Suddeth is a stay-at-home dad and butler for his wonderful, adult son with autism. He has written numerous blogs posts, short stories, and three novels waiting for publication. He is a frequent attendee at writers conferences, including the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference and a member of Word Weavers and ACFW. He lives near Greenville, SC where he shares a house with a bossy Shorky and three too-curious Persians. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter, as well as at www.timingreenville.com and www.openingamystery.com.