comm207fall06

Here's a revised list of the really confusing and important entries in the AP Stylebook I mentioned in class Tuesday, the ones I circled both the alphabetical listing and the page number. Plus a couple I didn't that I should have!

And one that doesn't have a page number to circle. It's the first one. So without further ado, here's the list:

abbreviations. That's the one that doesn't have a page number in my book. But it's important. And tricky. Oops! It goes on to a second page. That's page 4 in my edition. Circle it.

addresses.

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.

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 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 it. And you'll need it often.

trademark.