Penrose Editorial Style Guide

At Penrose Editorial, our goal is not to make every author sound like us. Our goal is to help each author communicate their message as clearly, effectively, and professionally as possible while preserving the voice that makes the work theirs.

Editing is both technical and collaborative. We correct errors, strengthen communication, identify problems, and help authors produce the strongest version of their work. But we also recognize the boundary between improving an author's writing and rewriting it according to our own preferences.

Keep These Principles in Mind

  • Preserve the author's voice. Don't change something simply because you would have written it differently.

  • Distinguish errors from preferences. Correct errors. Respect legitimate stylistic choices.

  • Stay within your scope. Developmental editors, line editors, proofreaders, and design proofreaders have different responsibilities.

  • Flag what you can't safely fix. If a change could alter meaning or intent, query it rather than assume.

  • Respect the author's message. Do not alter an author's theology, argument, or position based on personal agreement or preference.

  • Maintain consistency. Follow established terminology, capitalization, spelling, formatting, and other project conventions.

Editorial Hierarchy

When two rules or preferences conflict, follow this order:

  1. Author's intended meaning and established voice

  2. Project-specific instructions and style sheet

  3. Penrose Editorial Style Guide

  4. Designated external style authority

  5. Designated dictionary

The Penrose Rule

Before changing something, ask:

Is it wrong, unclear, inconsistent, or ineffective, or would I just write it differently?

If it's a problem, fix it within the scope of your editorial phase. If it's a preference, leave it. If you're not sure, flag it.

What Do You Need Help With?

  • Abbreviations & Acronyms

  • Apostrophes & Possessives

  • Author Queries & Comments

  • Bible & Christian Terminology

  • Capitalization

  • Citations & Sources

  • Colons

  • Commas

  • Common Penrose Corrections

  • Compound Words

  • Contractions

  • Dashes

  • Design Proofreading

  • Developmental Editing

  • Dialogue

  • Ellipses

  • Emphasis

  • Foreign Words & Phrases

  • Footnotes & Endnotes

  • Formatting

  • Greek & Hebrew Words

  • Headings & Subheadings

  • Hyphens & Hyphenated Words

  • Italics, Bold & Underlining

  • Line Editing

  • Lists & Bullets

  • Names, Titles & Honorifics

  • Numbers, Dates & Times

  • Paragraphs & Indentation

  • Parentheses & Brackets

  • Periods & End Punctuation

  • Penrose House Preferences

  • Prefixes & Suffixes

  • Project Style Sheets

  • Proofreading

  • Pronouns

  • Punctuation With Quotation Marks

  • Question Marks & Exclamation Points

  • Quotation Marks

  • Quoting Scripture

  • Referencing Scripture

  • Semicolons

  • Spelling & Preferred Word Usage

  • Theological Terms

  • URLs, Email Addresses & Social Media

  • Word Choice & Usage