As a news/editorial journalism major I fully subscribe to certain writing concepts, such as assuming my reader likely won’t read through my entire document -- so I better put the most important facts first and put as few speed bumps as possible within my writing so that the reader does not get frustrated.
My other legacy as a journalism major is that I write according to The Associated Press style. My AP Stylebook is always within reach because I am constantly questioning whether a word is hyphenated, capitalized, used correctly … this list goes on and on. Lie? Lay? Laid? Why can’t I ever remember which one to use?
This blog – and the others to come after it – is a little self-serving. I need a refresher course to remind myself of some rules that I have forgotten since college and to confirm that I do in fact know what I am talking about when I attempt to encourage certain rules with my colleagues.
For the next several weeks I am going to examine and share with you the most perplexing and least understood writing rules, A-Z.
Many people are surprised to learn that “an” is not just for words that begin with a vowel. It is also for words that begin with a vowel sound. Think honor or NIH-grant. It is an honor to speak with you about an NIH-grant.
Speaking of abbreviations and alphabet soup, AP guidelines suggest avoiding “awkward constructions” and eliminating following an organization’s name with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses. If an abbreviation or acronym will not be clear on second reference without the parentheses, then don’t use it. This is a losing battle we proposal-writers face all too frequently. I didn’t realize that I have AP on my side. I also admit that I will break this rule by the end of the afternoon while trying to fit my brilliant program description within a 1,000-word character limit.
Aboveboard – one word, no hyphens
Academic titles – these guys are only capitalized when they precede a name. English department Chairman John Smith; The department chairman released news today.
Affect vs effect: affect as a verb means to influence or impact. Effect as a noun means result. This budget shortfall will affect our ability to provide free care. The effect of the budget shortfall is less participants will receive free care. Yes, just to be confusing, affect can be a noun and effect can be a verb. However, using affect as a noun and effect as verb are so seldom appropriate that it’s simpler just to remember that affect is an action and effect is not.
Ages: when you must use an age, always use figures. You need hyphens for ages used as adjectives. The boy is only 7 years old. He is a 7-year-old boy. Better yet: The boy, 7, is a natural wonder. The group, all in their 30s, discussed grammar at length.
Alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae – this is especially for my school fundraising friends. An alumnus is a man who graduated from a school; alumni is the plural. An alumna is a woman who graduated from a school; alumnae is the plural. Alumni captures men and women.
Among vs between: between is for two options; among is for three or more options.
That completes my personal toughest letter A rules. I don’t want to implicate myself, but I may or may not have discovered that I was quite the accidental rule-breaker on one of them. Looks like I need to keep my stylebook a bit closer.
