Redaktionsprozesse steuern durch Styleguides.

Abstract

For a long time style guides have been one of the central meta-communicative genres in the economic world. But so far they have not been the focus of linguistic analysis. The article offers a short linguistic characterization of style guides. It describes the role style guides play in different units of modern companies. An analysis of typical advantages of style guides for technical writing units is offered. However these advantages are often nullified by obstacles in the implementation process. Some of the most common reasons for the abortion of style guide implementations are shown, i. e. • Too much time passes between the start of the project and the first benefits for the styleguide users. • Authors fear too restrictive frameworks and the loss of creativity in their work. • The most knowledgeable contributors to the style guide usually carry the largest workload and gain the least benefit from the implementation. The article consequently proposes a model, how style guides may be utilized not only as a restricted framework for writing at work but as a process oriented tool for the management of editorial processes.