Story Style: Difference between revisions
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This document is intended to form a manual of style that dictates the way stories are written, mainly in matters of format, punctuation, and grammar. It is currently in its initial stages. Whereas some languages, like French and German, have standardized forms governed by regulatory bodies, English is in many ways a free-for-all. The laws presented below therefore reflect my (--[[User:Mrgirlpluggedout|Mrgirlpluggedout]] ([[User talk:Mrgirlpluggedout|talk]]) 19:33, 9 March 2014 (UTC)) own personal preference. Since no one has died and made me King of Soylent, my opinion does not outweigh the opinion of others. You are most welcome to add your own laws and examples to this document. I simply ask that instead of changing something that already exists, you please make your reservations known in the talk page. Thank you, and happy soylenting! | |||
=Headline Capitalization= | =Headline Capitalization= | ||
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=Serial Comma= | =Serial Comma= | ||
=Dashes= | |||
=Betteridge's Law of Headlines= | |||
=Possessive S= | =Possessive S= | ||
Revision as of 19:33, 9 March 2014
This document is intended to form a manual of style that dictates the way stories are written, mainly in matters of format, punctuation, and grammar. It is currently in its initial stages. Whereas some languages, like French and German, have standardized forms governed by regulatory bodies, English is in many ways a free-for-all. The laws presented below therefore reflect my (--Mrgirlpluggedout (talk) 19:33, 9 March 2014 (UTC)) own personal preference. Since no one has died and made me King of Soylent, my opinion does not outweigh the opinion of others. You are most welcome to add your own laws and examples to this document. I simply ask that instead of changing something that already exists, you please make your reservations known in the talk page. Thank you, and happy soylenting!
Headline Capitalization
All words are regularly capitalized, apart from prepositions (e.g. in, at, and on), conjunctions (e.g. and, if, and but), and the copula ("the verb to be", e.g. is, am, and are). But when headline-initial, even these are capitalized.
Serial Comma
Dashes
Betteridge's Law of Headlines
Possessive S
- The possessive form of singular nouns is marked with 's, except for some archaic proper nouns that end in -es or -is, e.g. Moses' law (http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk.html#1).
- The possessive form of plural nouns ending in s does not contain an s, e.g. pirates'.
Apostrophes
- Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of nouns, e.g. soylent's (singular) and news' (plural).
- Apostrophes are not used to form the plural ending of nouns, e.g. the plural form of apple is apples, and its possessive form is apples'. Apple's is the possessive form of the singular apple, while apples' is the possessive form of the plural apples.
Hyper-Prescriptivism: Split Infinitives and Preposition Stranding
Weasel Words
Source Needed
Titles of Works
- The titles of books, films, albums, etc. are rendered in italics rather than quotation marks, e.g. Planet of the Apes instead of "Planet of the Apes".
- The names of websites and products receive no such marking, e.g. "CNN reports that Charlton Heston has discovered the secret ingredient in Soylent Green." Contrast this to the following sentence, in which Soylent Green is the film rather than the product: "CNN reports that Charlton Heston has discovered the secret ingredient in Soylent Green."