hyphen in noun-gerund compounds

Question

I am lost with the rule that noun-gerund compounds do not get a hyphen if used as nouns.

Example: He liked novel reading.

Is it correct not to use a hyphen between novel and reading here?

I looked up "name dropping" in MWebster and they spell it with a hyphen. That would mean:

Example: Name-dropping is a famous practice.

What is the rule here? Or is it a style question?

And, I am in the academic field of linguistics. There are some compounds that I have never ever seen in nonhyphenated forms but which would technically go without a hyphen according to the rule.

Example: The process of meaning-making is complex.

What to do in these cases? Stick with the rule or with frequency of use?

Q.P. · Answer

I always thought a hyphen was used when two words were conceptually linked to become one object. Simple as that. For example "Name-dropping" is clearly a distinct thing in its own right.

I didn't think there was a particular rule on its use, it just depended on whether it made sense to demonstrate that the two words together form a new but related concept.

Sarah K · Answer

I did some more research. This is what the Chicago Manual of Style has to say:

Noun form usually open; adjective form hyphenated before a noun. Some
  permanent compounds closed (see 7.78).
  
  decision making/ a decision-making body; mountain climbing/
  time-clock-punching employees/ a Nobel Prize–winning chemist (see 6.80)
  bookkeeping/ caregiving/ copyediting

However, I am still lost with examples like "meaning-making" or to add another one:

I really like novel reading OR I really like novel-reading.

How do I decide which one is correct? The rule states, if I understand it correctly, no hyphen. In the majority of cases (corpora) it says novel-reading with hyphen.

hyphen in noun-gerund compounds

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