What is a style guide? Is adhering to a style important? Why or why not?

Academic writing has to follow certain guidelines depending on the academic discipline it falls under. This is where style guides fall into place because they tell the format in which the paper must take. Yes adhering a style is important. That is the main purpose for using a style guide so that you can follow it and maintain your style while writing. You want your writing as well as your style guide to be professional for your work place or academic writing. Following proper guidelines helps you to make sure that your work will be taken seriously and provide valuable information to your readers. In may last COM class this is something I had to work on because before I wasn't considering my audience I was just worried about getting my work done not realizing the effect it would have on others.