Sunday, October 12, 2014

AP stylebook, aka my Bible

What I learned this week about the Associated Press Stylebook is that it’s my best friend. I was first introduced to this valuable little reference book on the rules of word usage, punctuation and spelling when I took Media Writing last year. It has since become my bible on all things related to communication. It’s hard to choose just one rule or reference of value that I've learned from using the stylebook, because essentially everything is valuable. As we've all learned this week, there are many rules that we encounter on a daily basis when writing.

Titles are one of the rules that I need to constantly look up. Being able to distinguish between a formal or informal title is a good starting point when trying to remember the rule. Formal titles only get capitalized when used directly before an individual’s name, ex: President Obama. Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual’s name, ex: The vice president. Informal titles could include examples such as professor or astronaut, both of which are lowercase and spelled out. Courtesy titles are used for both men and woman but only after first reference of name. Military titles also have their own set of rules, but they most commonly follow the formal title rules.


This week’s grammar/spelling error comes from one of my textbooks. Yes you read that correctly, a current communication textbook. See below. The word “and” is extra. I can’t tell you how many times I've made this exact same error. It just goes to show you the importance of editing your work before sending it to print. 


2 comments:

  1. I've been surprised where I have found editing mistakes...even in a textbook!

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  2. I am like you. I used the AP Stylebook about a year or two ago in one of my classes. I never really used it very much in that class and I think I ended up throwing it away after the semester. This class has really helped my understand how valuable it can be.

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