Proofreading Style Sheet Template
The style sheet is the single most useful document in this trade and the one beginners skip. It is where you record every decision you made that the text did not make for you, so the job is consistent, defensible and, when the client asks why you changed something on page 200, answerable in one line.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ A header naming the style guide and dictionary in force, and the language variant
- ✓ A running word list for spelling, hyphenation and capitalization decisions
- ✓ A numbers section covering when to spell out, date format, times and ranges
- ✓ A names list for people, places and products, which is where consistency quietly fails
- ✓ A section for the client preferences that override the style guide
- ✓ A queries log, so an unresolved question is recorded rather than silently decided
How to use it
- Start it before the first page, with the style guide, dictionary and language variant named.
- Add every decision as you make it, not afterwards from memory.
- Record the choice and not the reasoning, so the sheet stays quick to scan.
- Send it with the finished job, because it is genuinely useful to the client and it demonstrates the work.
What a style sheet records and why clients value it
Every document raises small questions that no style guide answers on its own. Is it "email" or "e-mail"? Are chapter numbers spelled out? Does the author's fictional town take a hyphen? A style sheet is the place where you write down each answer as you decide it, so the same question gets the same answer on page 3 and page 300.
Clients value it for a practical reason. It lets them see what you did without reading every change, and it gives the next person who touches the document, whether a designer, an editor or you on the sequel, a head start. For a series of books or a company that publishes regularly, a good style sheet quickly becomes a shared reference.
Filling in the sections as the job goes
Open the sheet before you read the first page. At the top, record the style guide and edition, the dictionary, and the language variant. If the client has a house style, note that it takes precedence and list any points where it differs from the general guide.
The word list is the heart of the sheet. Arrange it alphabetically so it can be scanned, and record the chosen form only: "healthcare (one word)", "follow-up (noun), follow up (verb)". Keep explanations out of it; a sheet full of reasoning becomes slow to use.
The numbers section covers when to use numerals, how dates and times appear, and how ranges are written. The names section lists every person, place, organization and product, with the spelling used. In fiction this section grows long and becomes the most useful part of the sheet, because character names and invented places are where inconsistency hides.
Finally, keep a short queries log: each question you raised, where it occurs, and the answer once you have it. That log is what lets you defend a decision later without relying on memory.
Where the style sheet fits in your process
The style sheet links the brief to the delivery. You build it from what the client told you at the start, you use it during every consistency check, and you send it back with the finished file. Unit 2 of the course covers working to a named style guide and building a sheet for a job that has none, and Unit 5 covers delivering it in a form the client can act on.
A filled-in example
| Style guide | A current general style manual, latest edition; American spelling |
|---|---|
| Dictionary | A standard American dictionary, first listed spelling |
| Word list | gray (never grey); okay; half-elf; storyteller |
| Numbers | Spell out one to one hundred in dialogue and narration; numerals for years |
| Names | Tamsin (never Tamzin); the Hollow Reach; Captain Oren of the Tidewatch |
| Client preferences | Keep the author's serial commas off in chapter titles only |
| Queries | Ch. 12: is the river the Vell or the Vale? Author confirmed "Vell" |
Mistakes to avoid
- Starting the sheet halfway through. By page 80 you will have made dozens of decisions you can no longer list. Open the sheet on page one and add to it as you go.
- Imposing your own preferences. If the client or the text has a consistent choice, record and follow it. A proofreader who swaps an author's acceptable style for their own is doing an edit nobody asked for.
- Recording reasons instead of decisions. The sheet should be quick to scan. Put the chosen form in the list and keep any explanation in the queries log or your own notes.
- Keeping it to yourself. The sheet is part of the deliverable. Sending it with the file shows the care taken and saves the client from asking why things changed.
Proofreading Style Sheet Template FAQs
What if the client has no style guide?
Then you build the sheet from the text: follow what the document already does most consistently, record it, and query the cases where it does two things equally often. Imposing a guide the client never asked for is a scope decision, not a proofreading one.
Is a style sheet the same as a style guide?
No, and the difference matters. A style guide is a published book of general rules. A style sheet is the short record of what was decided for this one document, including the places where it departs from the guide.
Should I send the style sheet to the client?
Yes. It costs nothing, it answers most of the questions a client would otherwise email you, and it is concrete evidence of the care taken. It is also the fastest way to make a one-off job into a standing arrangement, because the next document starts from it.
More proofreading business templates
Get every template, plus the training
Ten documents, one course that covers the thinking behind all of them, from the first quote to the contract you hand a commercial client.
Choose your course