Proposed style guide

[robkelk]

Since it came up at this week's writers' chat, here's the start of a style guide for this project.

In no particular order:

• American spellings in multiple-writer stories
  
• Third-person viewpoint in multiple-writer stories
  

We didn't work out very much of a style this week...

[Labster]

Here's a silly one.  Which dash should we use?

Should we use - the hyphen?
Should we use -- the double-hyphen?
Should we use – the en-dash?
Should we use — the em-dash?
Should we use 一 the CJK ideograph for number one?
I've also read that the em-dash should be used differently—without spaces.

I think my preference is em, then en, double hyphen, ichi, hyphen.  I also it with spaces around (open), rather than right next to the word (closed).

(I also like two spaces after sentences, but Rob and my browser keep taking them out.)

[robkelk]

(Spot the guy with a storage background, who saves bytes wherever it doesn't affect meaning...)

My preference is for the en-dash, purely on aesthetic grounds. I also like open dashes.

[Bob Schroeck]

All my typing skills and reflexes were trained into me in the late 1970, so I unthinkingly default to an open double-hyphen (although when it's not hard to do I have no problems with the open em-dash, which is the result of my not-quite-as-early specialization in desktop publishing in the first years of my career). And I, too, prefer two spaces after sentences, but have resigned myself to watching browsers close them up as a matter of course when justifying text.

[Inquisitive Raven]

I have a subscription to the Chicago Manual of Style. Shall I quote it on the subject of em-dashes vs. en-dashes? I think they’re supposed to be used in different contexts.

[Labster]

Nah, no need.  The main context where you can't use an em dash is when you're using a longer dash to disambiguate, like "the non–anti-war crowd".

Ok, new rule: No umlauts may be used on native English words.  Metal dots, however, are allowed, but naturally have no phonetic value.  Mainly I was just reminded how much I hate The New Yorker's house style, which always causes a parse error for me.  If you like that style, please re-evaluate your choices in life.  Hyphens are fine, but without is fine too.

[Mamorien]

Mainly I was just reminded how much I hate The New Yorker's house style, which always causes a parse error for me.  If you like that style, please re-evaluate your choices in life.  Hyphens are fine, but without is fine too.

I like it, but only as a friend; I promise to keep it off this board in future. (I need some separation between vowels that are meant to be separate, so I'll use hyphens here henceforth.)