SORRY, IT AIN T STYLE Common mistakes Mastering small stuff JUSTICE B. HILL In journalism, careful writers master AP style -- no matter what size newspaper or Web site they work for. Of course, AP style can be downright confusing and utterly frustrating. Oftentimes, you can t find a reason behind the maddening set of rules. But confusing or not, AP style must be studied and learned. Copy editors (and readers) have no tolerance for some of the common mistakes that creep into a writer s prose. To learn what those mistakes are will allow s writer to work on form and technique. Don't slow your development because
you ve simply been too lazy to bother with the stylistic rules of writing well. If you need a refresher course on some points, turn to E.B White and Will Strunk s "Elements of Style" and "The Associated Press Stylebook." You can find parts of the first of these two books on the Internet, which will save you a few dollars. You should already have a copy of the AP stylebook in your personal library. Also, Poynter's tutorial "Cleaning Your Copy" (www.newsu.org) will be helpful. Each of you is required to complete this selfdirected program this semester. Doing so will benefit you greatly. But to make things a bit easier for each of you, here are some of the common style mistakes that writers young and old make: The Numbers Game: Style on the use of numbers is specific in journalism. Master it. In general, all numbers under 10 are spelled out... nine, eight, seven, six... All numbers 10 and above take numerals... 11, 12, 121, 1,211, 112,122. Of course, the latter reverts to the under 10 rule for numbers at the start of any sentence. The rule on using numbers for people's ages is also different. Again, consult your Associated Press Stylebook and master this. THE NUTS AND BOLTS WRITING PHILOSOPHY There s a story in every man. The challenge is to find it. Then the problem is to tell it without putting the customers to sleep. Jim Murray Hall of Fame sportswriter Abbreviations: It isn t necessary to spell out commonly used terms like NAACP, FBI, AFL-CIO, AFC, NFC, NBA, NCAA, PGA, NASCAR, ATP. To do so is to add clutter to your prose affect/effect: One is a verb [affect]; the other, a noun [effect]. as/like: According to the AP Stylebook, use the word "like" as a preposition to compare nouns and pronouns. The word "as" is a conjunction ["and," "but," "for," etc.], so it is the correct word to introduce a clause. coach: Lowercase as a job description. Capitalize when used as a term of address: Coach Self told reporters... vs. coach Bill Self told reporters... awhile/a while: Use one word when awhile serves as an adverb modifying a verb: Please stay awhile. Use two words when a while is the object of a preposition For quite a while, he wanted to buy a new car.
who/whom: To check for proper usage, insert "he" every time you have used "who" in a clause. Insert "him" every time you have used "whom." its/it's: "It's" is a contraction; "its," a possessive pronoun. they're/their/there: Words that sound alike but have different meanings cause problems because they are hard to spot in copy. Worse, few rules apply to help you use them properly. To know the difference between any homonym, even triple ones like "ware"/"where"/"wear," you have to memorize em. site/sight/cite: Each of these words has a different meaning. Just as the example above, these words present problems for young journalists. Master their meanings. Disagreement: Two types: noun-pronoun disagreement and noun-verb disagreement. Watch out for false plurals like "every" and "each": "Each [Every] writing and research project helps me in the classroom." Baseball is played in "innings." Never use "frame," "stanza" or other such words. [I have yet to hear a ballplayer say he hit a home run in the second "frame." So if a player won't say it, you shouldn t write it.]... Other baseball specific terms to remember: baseline, center-field, center fielder, RBI, RBIs. No hyphen between big league and capitalize Little League. Offseason, postseason, preseason take no hyphen. Basketball is played in "quarters" or "halves." Do not use "periods."... Other basketball-specific terms to remember: fast break, halftime, man-to-man, layup, free throw, free-throw line, foul line, three-point play, three-pointer. Offseason, postseason, preseason take no hyphen. Conferences: Major basketball and football conferences are listed on first reference as Mid-American Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Southeast Conference, Big East Conference, Pac-12 Conference, though you see a lot of flexibility in these conferences are identified. For example, often you see Big Ten without conference or just the SEC or, in the case of Ohio University, the MAC alone. Don t fret overly much about this issue. Football is players in quarters or halves.... Other football-specific terms to remember: kick off (verb), kick-off (adjective, noun), play off (verb), playoff (adjective, noun), tailback, fullback, running back, tight end. Use of figures: The 5- yard line, a 5-yard pass play. Offseason, postseason, preseason take no hyphen. Hockey is played in "periods." Do not look for a synonym. Offseason, postseason, preseason take no hyphen. Embrace "said" for attribution. "Said" is a perfectly valid word that can be used repeatedly without distracting a reader. Unless your meaning is something other
than "said" (maybe shout or whisper), you should stick with "said." Doing that tells the reader exactly what you mean, and, sometimes, the repetition is good for emphasis. "However" should not be used in stylish prose the same way as "but" or "yet." Look up the preferred use of the word in "Elements of Style." While convention allows its use at the beginning of sentences these days, the word seems to lose its howeverness when placed there. Strunk and White s little book explains this well. "All right" is the correct; "alright" is not. Forwards, backwards, towards, etc. are all counter to AP style. Use "forward," "backward" and "toward," except in a direct quote. "Enormity" doesn't mean what you think it means. Look up the proper use of the word. Proper AP style frowns on the use of "prior to." The preferred word is "before." Why use two words when one word will do? Hyphenations are tricky to master, but the AP Stylebook spells out in detail when to hyphenate words and when not to. Study the stylebook. A good grammar book will also serve you well. As with people's ages, AP has clear rules for proper use of heights and weights. Both come up frequently in sportswriting; both are frequently used incorrectly in sports stories. Major cities in the United States and around the world don't need the state or country. It's Cleveland, not Cleveland, Ohio.... It's Chicago, not Chicago, Ill.... It's Fort Wayne, Ind., not Fort Wayne.... London, not London, England. Again, consult the stylebook on these points. Also, the U.S. Postal abbreviation isn't always the same as the AP abbreviation. For example, the AP Stylebook does not use an abbreviation for Ohio, so you should say Springfield, Ohio, and not Springfield, OH., in your articles. "That" and "which" trick up many writers. One introduces "essential" information; the other, "non-essential" information. The first doesn't take a comma; the second does. The AP Stylebook goes into detail on this point. So does a good grammar book and "Elements of Style." Quotation marks (" ") always go outside a period and a comma -- no exceptions, ever. Not even for book titles. The rules are a bit more complicated for question marks. For colons and semicolons, the quote marks always go inside those punctuation marks.
Master the spelling of harass and embarrass. The first takes one r; the second takes two. Other words like accommodate, siege, seize, all right [not alright] and commitment fit into this category. "Presently" does not mean "now." It means "soon," "in a little while" or "shortly." Use of commas: The AP Stylebook says, "When a conjunction such as 'and,' 'but' or 'for' links two clauses that could stand alone as separate sentences, use a comma before the conjunction in most cases." In AP style, do not use a comma in series: make it red, white and blue ; not red, white, and blue. Study the correct spellings of words central to football, basketball and baseball. Your AP Stylebook has a section called "Sports Guideline and Style." Read the chapter closely and understand its content. Is it "ball park" or "ballpark"? Is it "ball carrier" or "ballcarrier"? Does "team" take the pronoun "it" or "they"? Learn these answers.