Style guides are essential aids for writers and editors who produce publications and online help projects—but a style guide isn't the whole story.
Many writers and editors swear by a style guide when organizing, editing and writing publications. Well-known style guides include the Chicago Manual, the AP Style guide and the Microsoft manual for electronic and technical publications. Many corporations adapt elements of these to produce their own, distinctive style guides.

by Jean Hollis Weber

As a technical writer, you may be asked to develop a style guide for the hardcopy and online documents you produce. Sounds easy enough. After all, commercial style guides and, potentially, examples shared by your colleagues should provide enough information to get you started. In researching your task, though, you may find a variety of definitions and explanations of what a style guide is and why companies use them. What's more, you many find that style guides don't seem to have consistencies among them that can help guide you in developing one.