AP Style

Stylebooks deal primarily with three concepts: consistency, usage and precision First Stylebook appeared in 1953 There were two primary wire services at this time: Associated Press and United Press International The need for a consistent style helped create one Stylebook in 1960

 Any publication should have their own Stylebook i.e. We refer to NWCC as Northwest in The Ranger Rocket and Rocketeer

Titles
Long titles should go after an individuals name When a title precedes a name, it is capitalized When a title follows a name, it is not capitalized Titles are typically not abbreviated Stand-alone titles are always written out and are not abbreviated

Titles
Generally, identify people in the news by their first name, middle initial and last name on first reference. In second reference, use only last name. Do not use courtesy titlesMr., Mrs., Miss, etc.unless not using them would cause confusion.

Abbreviations
Abbreviate state names when they are used with the name of a town or city If used alone, write them out Look at Stylebook under state names for state abbreviations Abbreviate months when they are used with a specific date (Nov. 12, 1948) Write out month if only used with a year

Abbreviations Continued
Never abbreviate March, April, May, June or July On first reference, you almost always write out the formal name (Northwest Mississippi Community College) Do not use an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses after the first reference of a full name. Wrong: The Radical Underwater First United Sailors (RUFUS) meets tonight.

Abbreviations Continued
In street addresses, abbreviate these when used with a number: StreetSt. AvenueAve. BoulevardBlvd. But, the words alley, road, circle, drive are never abbreviated. Spell out and capitalize FirstNinth when referring to a street name

Numbers
Write out numbers zero to nine and use numerals for 10 or higher Spell out numbers that are at the beginning of a sentence Write out million and billion (1.2 million) Use numerals for age Use a numeral for percentages but follow the numeral with the word percent

Numbers Continued
For time, always use numerals. It is 7 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m. For dates, always use numerals For temperatures, use numerals for all except zero For dimensions, use numerals (6 feet 4 inches) For money, write dollars and cents as numerals ($9 or 18 cents) Use commas in numbers with more than four digits

Time
Always use a.m. and p.m. Do not use tonight or this morning Do not use yesterday or tomorrow but today is acceptable Use the day of the week if it occurred last week or the next week Use calendar dates if it is farther than a week ago or more than a week away Avoid putting the day of the week and date

Punctuation
A colon is used in clock time. 8:15 a.m., 9:30 p.m., 10 a.m. (not 10:00 a.m.) Hyphensthere is a hyphen section in the back of an AP Stylebook. Use a hyphen in phrasal adjectives: a 7-year-old boy, an offthe-cuff opinion The hyphen is not used in sequences in which the adverb has an ly suffix: a gravely ill patient

Punctuation
Use a hyphen when there is a combination of a number plus a noun of measurement: a 3inch bug, a 6-foot man Always use a hyphen with the prefix ex: expresident, ex-chairman The comma is omitted before Roman numerals and before Jr. and Sr. in names: John Paul Smith Jr.

Punctuation
Capitalize names of holidays, historic events, church feast days, special events, but not seasons: Mothers Day, Labor Day, Orientation Week, fall storm, autumn leaves Capitalize the proper names of nationalities, peoples, races and tribes: Indian, Arab, Hispanic Capitalize and place quotation marks around names of books, plays, poems, songs, lectures, speech titles, hymns, movies, TV programs, etc., when the full name is used.

First, second or third person?

First person
Writing from the I point of view I went to work. I go to school. Not used in mass communication or researchbased writing

Second person
The least likely to be used Mostly used in novel writing From the you point of view Command form You should have seen it.

Third person
Omniscient point of view John walked down the hallway and saw her. He turned to look at the woman sitting in the old rocking chair. You and I are removed from the writing.