@Flash wrote:
They get what they ask for and if they are new-to-me I look to their instructions for style before reporting or just provide the most plain vanilla.
One of the biggest problems, though, is that most MSCs, from what I can tell, don't have a preferred style! I've asked editors before if they use "Chicago," AP, or what, and I don't get an answer at all, or I get, "well, we really don't have a style guide." So... How are we supposed to follow a style if we, and they, don't know what style to use? It's ridiculous. There are plenty of accepted style guides out there that they could use, and they can just tell us to write per that style. IMO, "Chicago" would be the proper one for writing narrative reports, but if they want APA, I'll give 'em APA. AP? OK, I can do that, too.
Just tell us, damnit! Just tell us! We can't give them what they want if they won't tell us what that is. They can even write their own in-house guides. And I mean real guides, not just how many spaces to use after a period, whether to use the Oxford comma or not, and to always write in past tense. I mean a real style guide -- even if it's one freakin' page long!
If they won't give us a real style to follow, then let us just write correctly, and don't mark us down for correct usage "just because" it doesn't follow some rule we don't know about. Sheesh.
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2020 10:28PM by BirdyC.