style guide

  • Text is always justified solely because it looks clean to me and makes my brain happy.
  • Em dashes are Chicago style in these parts — there are spaces on both sides. May have changed my mind about this one.
  • Headers: BOOK TITLE by Author Name. If the book has more than one author, their names are separated by commas rather than the traditional “and.” If there are too many authors to list, such as in the case of anthologies and collections, the author is simply listed, perhaps unjustly, as Various.
  • Book reviews, with some exceptions, are formatted thusly:
      • The opening crawl: a brief blurb of the book. I like to be creative with these. My general philosophy is to think of them as pieces of flash fiction, rather than just cold, expository copy. This isn’t a hard rule, though: sometimes I just use the publisher’s summary.
      • The crawl is separated from the main body of the text by three hollow bullet points: ○○○
      • (Have since learned that the above is called a dinkus, which is just delightful.)
  • In the reviews, book titles are Bold & Italicized the first time they’re mentioned. Regular Title Case for every subsequent mention. “Short Story Titles” get the same treatment.
  • Monthly Wrap-Ups:
      • Header: MONTH Year
      • Opening text. Usually just general grumbling from my part. I consider these posts much more casual, so the writing is more off-the-cuff than usual.
      • Pictures of the book covers, in gallery form:
        • Link To: Media File
        • Columns: It Depends
        • Size: Large
        • Type: Thumbnail Grid
      • Book Title in Title Case by Author Name. Immediately followed by my thoughts on the book. 
      • “Short Story” by Author Name. Thoughts thoughts thoughts.