Actually, it's the pentultimate. The next to the ultimate.
The ultimate is the AP Stylebook. Right?
Here's a preliminary list of life-changing revelations you'll find in the "AP Stylebook." It won't be the last I give you, but it'll get you started. We'll add others later.
I've tried to pick out some of the points of AP style that cause beginning professional writers the most trouble -- in other words, the ones that are most different from the standard English style we learn in school. You're not going to want to sell your dog-eared copy of the the Stylebook back to the bookstore anyway, so I'd circle the keywords at the beginning of each entry and paperclip the pages together. I circle the page numbers too.
For several years, I kept an extra copy of the AP Stylebook in my bathroom ... for those moments -- we all have them -- when we'd like to read something but don't have enough time to read a whole article. I don't expect you to learn all of this stuff at one sitting, but I do encourage you to pick up AP style over time ... almost by osmosis ... because it's the most noticeable thing that demonstrates the stuff you write is by a professional.
So let's get started. I added my helpful hints to some, just listed others. Here they are:
abbreviations and acronyms. Doesn't have a page number in my book, so I didn't circle it. But it's important. And tricky. Oops! It goes on to a second page. That's page 4 in my edition. Circle it, clip it or whatever. And keep coming back to it.[Modified from Aug. 21, 2008]
addresses. Are you beginning to notice we're not dealing with deep philosophical issues here? Every publication has its own local style. When I was at The Rock Island Argus, we went to Duffy's 4th Avenue Tap after work. And we abbreviated it that way, with the numeral followed by "-th." But in Springfield we'd write it out -- like this: "Fourth Avenue" -- because that's local style at the J-R. Luckily, we don't have such a street in Springfield. But if we did, the local paper would write it out.
capitalization.
cents. See also dollars and percent. They're related. Write it like this: $4 without the zeroes if it's a round number, $4.15 of whatever if it isn't. Cents like this: 15 cents. Percents like this: 30 percent. Got that? Try writing it that way a few times and you will.
composition titles. Basically you put titles in quotes for a newspaper that you would ordinarily underline or put in italics for college papers.
directions and regions. It's all about when to capitalize something like "central Illinois" and when not to.
fewer, less You'll make fewer mistakes if you know this, and you'll be less likely to get it wrong, too.
governmental bodies. Newspapers are full of government news. I know, I know. That's why they're losing readers. But till the last dying newspaper goes out of business, you'll be writing about governmental bodies. This item tells you how.
it's, its It's essential for you to put apostrophe in its proper place.
midnight. Also see noon. The only times of the day you don't use "a.m." or "p.m." with. You don't use numbers, either. The Stylebook explains why.
millions, billions.
more than. Also see over. Use "more than" with numbers of things, "over" with heights.
numerals This is probably the one that's hardest -- and most important -- to learn in the whole book. Keep it in the bathroom so you'll have it whenever you're looking for a few minutes of light reading matter.
plurals. Did I say numerals was the hardest? Maybe it's plurals. What's worse, numerals and plurals come up all the time. You'll never run out of fun stuff to read in the AP Stylebook!
possessives. AP's rules regarding defy logic. So you'd better learn them. More reading for the bathroom.
state names. The tricky part is the abbreviations, which are not the same ones the Postal Service uses. Learn a few you're likely to use, like "Ill." and "Mo." Look up the rest. I guess you could memorize them, but do you really think you'll be writing that much about Casper, Wyo.?
time element, time of dayand times. Picky, picky. But the rules make sense once you get used to them.
titles. Don't try to learn them all. Just know this section is there when you need to know how to abbreviate the lieutenant governor's title. How about the head of the local mosquito abatement district? (Or is that a trick question?) And you'll need it often.
trademark.
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