Blogger Style Guide

4 Points for The Future of Medical Coding

Here are the guidelines to follow:

  • Blogs should be 600-1000 words
  • Submissions should be attached as a Word doc, double spaced.
  • Graphics may be submitted but are not guaranteed to be used.
  • There is one space after a period (not two).
  • Double check your writing through spell check but also by re-reading, as spellcheck does not catch homonyms and other similar spelling errors.
  • Emphasized words should be italicized, not in caps.
  • Double check punctuation–no unnecessary commas, leaving periods, etc. outside quotation marks. If you’re unsure, Google it or look on Grammar Girl. 
  • Titles should always be italicized; article, poem, song and TV episode titles should have quotes.
  • Be consistent in the punctuation of your subtitles if you’re using one.
  • List your links in order, and at top of your document after the word you have hot linked it to.
  • It’s okay to be conversational, and to that end, sprinkle in contractions such as “that’s” instead of “that is” every time.
  • Stay current–trending topics are well received.
  • Please use the Oxford (or serial) comma. An example would be: “There were instructions about commas, being up-to-date, and how to write numbers.”
  • Numbers under 10 are spelled out.
  • Do not overuse the exclamation mark. Read this for more info.
  • When two numbers are next to each other, it can be confusing. So instead of “ten seven-year-olds,” write one as a numeral, such as “ten 7-year-olds.” 
  • Hyphenate ages, such as “six-year-old.”
  • Write ellipses like . . . this. Not like…this. So that would be three spaced periods, with a space before and after (following Chicago style).
  • Use an m dash with no spaces–like that. Not with spaces like this – thanks. So, no space between the word and each side of the M dash like, word–word, rather than word space dash space word. On PCs in Word, create an M dash with alt0151. On Macs, option then click the dash key.
  • Minor edits are at Blackstone’s discretion.
Print Guidelines
Download Blog Entry

Upload and send your blog post