The Conscious Style Guide

a flexible approach to language that includes, respects, and empowers
Karen Yin

‘An essential resource for writers and editors who want to get up to speed on writing with empathy and care.’

Mignon Fogarty, host of the Grammar Girl podcast

‘Karen Yin has crafted a generous, thoughtful toolkit for anyone seeking to communicate mindfully. Her insights offer a flexible pathway to practicing conscious language that avoids prescriptivism and instead invites deep reflection. A must-have reference for any bookshelf!’

Emily Ladau, disability rights activist and author of Demystifying Disability

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The Conscious Style Guide is the best tool book of all. In a time when clear, accurate communication is more essential — and more challenging — than ever, Karen Yin gives writers and editors a great gift: a flexible and detailed guide for thinking through the nuances of language and context, and making wise decisions in each situation. She calls on us to embrace the complexities both of language and of people — each person we write about, and each person who reads or hears what we write. With compassion and clarity, she points us toward training our minds rather than falling back on often problematic lists of dos and don’ts. This book is a tremendous resource, affirming and instructive at the same time. I absolutely love it.’

Paula Froke, editor of The Associated Press Stylebook

‘By encouraging us to consider the real impact of our words, Karen Yin’s intelligent and fair-minded book upends the conventional wisdom that writers alone, writing for some “ideal reader”, always know what's best. To write consciously is to be aware of and compassionate toward the actual people who determine not only the success but also the meaning of any work. With its emphasis on critical thinking and the fluid interplay between content and context, The Conscious Style Guide will inspire writers and their editors to make choices that not only respect readers but, in the process, bring us all a little closer to the truth.’

Russell Harper, principal reviser of The Chicago Manual of Style

‘The Conscious Style Guide is far more than style guide. It’s a holistic and generous resource for anyone interested in the real guts of language: tender, messy, hurtful, complex human interaction. It navigates the sometimes maddening flexibility of English by grounding the reader in an awareness of self, society, and others based on kindness and curiosity. The Conscious Style Guide captures the nuance inherent in a living language while providing both micro- and macro-level advice on best practices for writers, editors, and readers. No list of dos and don’ts can replace the thoughtful guidance offered by Yin. The Conscious Style Guide is a must-have reference for anyone who wants to communicate well, compassionately, and clearly.’

Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word

‘In a world where perception consistently trumps reality, fighting — let alone undoing — systemic inequity often feels laughable. What can one person do, anyway? Enter the brilliant Karen Yin. By asking one simple, yet incredibly revealing question: Why do I believe this? Yin, with insight, empathy, and unflinching honesty, deftly guides the reader through finding, and unleashing, the most potent power we have: our conscious choice of words.’

Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius

‘Karen Yin is no language cop, ready to arrest us for our word crimes. Instead, in The Conscious Style Guide, she is the beloved school crossing guard, protecting us, guiding us, reminding us to look both ways.’

Roy Peter Clark, author of Tell It Like It Is

An adaptable guide for anyone who wants to communicate with compassion in a rapidly changing environment.

Most of us want to choose inclusive, respectful, and empowering language when communicating with or about others. But language — and how we use it — continually evolves, along with cultural norms. When contradictory opinions muddle our purpose, how do we align our word choices with our beliefs? Who has the final say when people disagree? And why is it so hard to let go of certain words? Afraid of getting something wrong or offending, we too often treat words as dos or don'ts, regardless of context and nuance.

Thankfully, in The Conscious Style Guide, award-winning editor Karen Yin provides a roadmap for communicating with sensitivity and awareness — no matter how the world around us changes. Readers will learn:

How to identify biased language
How to implement the overarching principles that guide us toward conscious language
How to adopt conscious language as a tool for self-awareness and empowerment
How to alleviate the stress of experiencing exclusionary language
How to create a style sheet and reference stack to help support your practice
And much more

With practical advice and hundreds of relatable examples, The Conscious Style Guide invites us to weigh contradictions, examine the pitfalls of binary thinking, and explore truly effective communication — in all aspects of our lives.

‘An essential resource for writers and editors who want to get up to speed on writing with empathy and care.’

Mignon Fogarty, host of the Grammar Girl podcast

Emily Ladau, disability rights activist and author of Demystifying Disability

View all reviews

Paula Froke, editor of The Associated Press Stylebook

Russell Harper, principal reviser of The Chicago Manual of Style

Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word

Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 234mm × 153mm

Extent:304pp

ISBN (13):9781761380679

RRP:$36.99

Pub date:4 Jun 2024

Rights Held: UK & Commonwealth (ex. Can)

High-res cover:Download Image

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AUTHOR

Karen Yin

Award-winning writer and editor Karen Yin is the force behind Conscious Style Guide (which was a website before it inspired a book) and The Conscious Language Newsletter. She also founded the Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s Best Websites for Writers 2023, and AP vs. Chicago, a humorous blog for anyone who ‘gives a dollar sign, ampersand, exclamation point, and pound sign about style’. Named editor of the year by ACES: The Society for Editing in 2017, Yin has served on the Chicago Manual of Style advisory board and contributed to The Associated Press Stylebook. Her children’s books include Whole Whale, So Not Ghoul, Doug the Pug and the Kindness Crew, and Nice to Eat You. Yin is writing another book at this exact moment somewhere in Southern California.

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We publish books that matter — narrative and literary nonfiction on important topics, and the best of local, international, and translated fiction.

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