Absolute Write Style Guide

There are certain stylistic preferences we adhere to on this website and in our newsletters, and we'd appreciate it if our writers would follow them.  Below you'll find a list of frequently-used terms and devices and how we handle them.

Manuscript format: Times New Roman 12-point, single-spaced, no paragraph indents, one blank line between paragraphs.  Start with title (no underlines, quotation marks, etc.), followed by "By Your Name," followed by the article, followed by your bio.

Titles of books: Underlined.  (Not in quotation marks or italics.)  When referring to an author's credits, please list the publisher and year of publication in parentheses-- no other information is necessary.
Example: Jenna Glatzer is the author of Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer (Nomad Press, 2004).

Titles of articles: In quotation marks.

Titles of magazines: In italics (i.e., it's Cosmopolitan, not "Cosmopolitan").

Titles of job positions: Keep in lowercase.  It's managing editor, not Managing Editor.  It's author, not Author.  It's department chairperson, not Department Chairperson.

Dashes: Please use a double-dash followed by a space to set off parts of sentences.
Example: She didn't have much time-- she had to be home before 5:00.

Ellipses: Three periods followed by a space.  Please do not use the Microsoft Word feature that squishes ellipses together.

Serial commas: Please use the last serial comma.
Example: He went to the store for milk, eggs, cheese, and bread.

Numbers: Please spell out the numbers one through ten, use numerals for all numbers higher than ten.
Example: She has three children and 14 grandchildren.

Links and e-mail addresses: No special characters; please don't include the mailto: prefix.  Don't worry-- we'll make all the links and e-mail addresses "live."

Over/more than: Use "more than" when it's followed by a number.  "Over" should be used only when you're referring to the state of being physically above something.
Examples: 
I've been a writer for more than 15 years.
The microwave is over the stove. 

Preferred spelling:

Use American English spelling.

Absolute Write (two words) or AbsoluteWrite.com (one word)

best-selling/best-seller

e-mail (always use the dash, and keep the "e" in lowercase)

e-zine

eBay

copyright (when referring to protecting one's work) 

copywriter (one word)

copy editor (two words)

fax (lowercase)

freelance (not free lance)

Internet (always capitalized)

lose is the opposite of win, loose is the opposite of tight.

nonfiction (no dash needed; yes, I'm aware that our header shows it with a dash!  I'm trying to get our web designer to fix that.)

playwright 

playwriting

SASE (no periods)

website (all one word, all lowercase)

writer's block

writers' conference

writers' guidelines

Sponsored links

Ring binders

 

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Please contact the authors if you'd like to reprint articles on this site.  All copyrights are retained by original authors.  And plagiarizers will be rounded up, handcuffed, and stuck into a very small and humid room wherein they must listen to Barney sing the "I Love You, You Love Me" song over and over again.

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