How to Start Using The Associated Press Style - How to Fake it Until You Make it!

If you’re new to the world of AP Style, have no fear! I am here to help you avoid the most common pitfalls. This is by no means a complete list. The full stylebook is currently 647 pages long. But these are the most common errors I see.

Rules:

1. Addresses. Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Spell them out and capitalize when part of a formal street name without a number. EXAMPLE: Pennsylvania Avenue. Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name. EXAMPLE: Massachusetts and Pennsylvania avenues. All similar words (alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.) are always spelled out. There is a lot more about addresses but these are the basics.

2. Affect vs. effect.

Affect, as a verb, means to influence: The game will affect the standings.

Affect, as a noun, is best avoided. It occasionally is used in psychology to describe an emotion, but there is no need for it in everyday language.

Effect, as a verb, means to cause: He will effect many changes in the company.

Effect, as a noun, means result: The effect was overwhelming. He miscalculated the effect of his actions. It was a law of little effect.

3. Among vs. between. Between introduces two items and among introduces more than two.

4. Attributing and Quotes. When attributing, use “said” for the most part. In AP style, said is not dead. Occasionally, “added” or something similar is also acceptable. Attribute after the quote or at the first natural break for the most part. EXAMPLE: “I love AP style,” said Sarah Palmer, OSU writing center consultant. Or “AP style is great,” Palmer said. “But it can get really picky.” On the first reference, use “said Source, title” and on second reference use “Source said.” We won’t “cite” information in the text. We attribute. Direct quotes get their own paragraph.

Note: Punctuation with quotation marks. The period and the comma always go within the quotation marks. The dash, the semicolon, the colon, the question mark and the exclamation point go within the quotation marks when they apply to the quoted material only. They go outside when they apply to the whole sentence.

5. Avoid alphabet soup. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms that the reader would not quickly recognize. If you use an acronym not universally known, spell out on the first reference and abbreviate on the second reference. EXAMPLE: On the first reference: Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. On the second reference: ACT

6. Because, since. Use because to denote a specific cause-effect relationship: He went because he was told. Since is acceptable in a causal sense when the first event in a sequence led logically to the second but was not its direct cause: They went to the game, since they had been given the ticket.

7. Crock-Pot. A brand name, not to be used unless referencing that brand, otherwise slow cooker. A similar example is Kleenex. Use facial tissue or tissue.

8. Datelines. Datelines on stories should contain a city name, entirely in capital letters, followed in most cases by the name of the state, country or territory where the city is located. EXAMPLE: STILLWATER, Okla. Sometimes well-known cities will stand by themselves in datelines. Example: DALLAS, PHOENIX and LAS VEGAS.

9. Directions and regions. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass directions; capitalize these words when they designate regions. EXAMPLES: He drove west. A storm system that developed in the Midwest is spreading eastward. With names of nations, lowercase unless they are part of a proper name or are used to designate a politically divided nation. EXAMPLE: northern France but South Korea.

10. Months. Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out when using alone or with a year alone. EXAMPLES: January 2020 was a cold month. Jan. 2 was the coldest day of the month. Jan. 14, 2020, was the target date.

Note: Holidays and holy days. Capitalize them: New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Groundhog Day, Easter, Hanukkah, etc.

11. Numbers. In general, spell out one through nine: The Yankees finished second. He had nine months to go. Use figures for 10 or above and whenever proceeding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. Also in all tabular matter, and in statistical and sequential forms. EXAMPLE: 6-year-old girls play or the boy is 13 years old.

Note: Use figures for ages. The girl is 3 years old. I watched a group of 5-year-olds chase a cat.

12. OK, OK’d, OK’ing, OKs. Do not use okay.

13. Oxford Comma. AP style throws out the Oxford comma (the comma before the and). EXAMPLE: I like to eat eggs, bacon and cheese. Only use the Oxford comma if omitting it would cause confusion.

14. Percent. This is a newer rule. Up until 2019, the writer should always use “percent.” But now they have changed it to just use “%.” You can use the word percent in casual conversation though. He has zero percent chance.

15. Seasons. Lowercase spring, summer, fall, winter and derivatives such as springtime unless part of a formal name: Dartmouth Winter Carnival, Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics.

16. States. The names of the 50 U.S. states should be spelled out when used in the body of a story, whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, village or military base. The states should be abbreviated in datelines. EXCEPTION: The following eight states are never abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

17. Times. Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes. EXAMPLES: 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 9-11 a.m. Do not say 10 p.m. at night because it is redundant.

18. Titles. In general, confine capitalization to formal title used directly before an individual’s name. EXAMPLES: The president issued a statement. President Donald Trump issued a statement. Sarah Palmer, an agricultural communications junior, loves to write.

19. Toward, not towards. farther, further. Farther refers to physical distance: He walked farther into the woods. Further refers to an extension of time or degree: She will look further into the mystery.

20. Years. When a phrase refers to a month and day within the current year, do not include the year. EXAMPLE: The hearing is scheduled for June 26. If the reference is to a past or future year, include the year and set it off with commas: Feb. 14, 2025, is the target date. Use and s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries: the 1890s, the 1800s. Years are an exception to the general rule in numerals that a figure is not used to start a sentence: 2013 was a very good year. Other EXAMPLES: the ’90s, the mid-1930s.

Common Practices:

21. Contractions. AP style suggests avoiding contractions because they reflect informal speech and writing. However, some places might be laid-back enough where they are accepted. Looking back at the rest of this blog post will show I have decided to use them for this setting. Whatever you decide, consider how the audience will interpret your word choices.

22. More than, over. Both are acceptable but many professional writers think over is overused.

23. Opinion. The writer does not get an opinion. No showing it.

24. Paragraphs. No more than three paragraphs per sentence. With AP Style, the document usually has thin columns, which makes paragraphs look longer than they really are. Keep the paragraphs as short as possible. One sentence paragraphs are fine.

25. That. Get rid of the word “that” as much as possible. It is hardly ever really needed and just adds to the word could.

Editing Marks:

Along with formatting and word choices, AP style also provides editing marks. I have attached the AP style guide version of editing marks as a resource to get you started in case you ever need to decipher edits from a fellow AP enthusiast.

editing marks for AP style

I hope this guide helps you. Whatever you do, start one step at a time. Before long, you’ll be better than me, I’m sure. Well, it’s time to get writing. Good luck!

–Sarah Palmer

Source: Some examples are excerpts taken from the AP stylebook for preciseness.