Jumping into a freelance writing career is very exciting. Bursting with ideas, writers sit down in front of their computers anxious to discover what this wide, wonderful world has in store for them. Unfortunately, they often find tons of advice full of industry lingo that can be a bit confusing. Here is the first in the latest Article Quickie series designed to help you hit the ground running: AP Stylebook or AP Style Called the journalist’s bible, the AP Stylebook is a listing of how things like grammar, religions, titles, times etc. should be written within the text of an [Read more…]
Using Numbers in Writing
March 13, 2010. 7 Comments
As with so many other grammar and style rules and conventions, the way we write numbers has changed as blogging has grown. More and more writers now use numerals in all instances rather than spelling out numbers below 10. It makes sense; numbers are easy to read and catch your eye on the computer screen. But according to both the AP style guide and the Chicago Manual of Style — it’s wrong. I confess to straying from this rule recently, until one client steered me back in the right direction. I won’t break this hard-and-fast rule again! (Unless, of course, [Read more…]
Startups, start-ups & other sticky situations
November 23, 2009. 3 Comments
I love when a situation arises that forces me to question my own judgment and knowledge. Perhaps I’m still gun-shy from the other day’s ‘Til v. Till debacle but I love when a grammar rule or convention trips me up. This happened recently while I was copyediting for a technology client. The original copy had the word “startup” (as in, a new business) spelled both with and without a hyphen. I’m a stickler for consistency. Spell something wrong, and people may not know it – as long as you’re consistent in that misspelling. I changed them all to the hyphenated [Read more…]
Less Than v. Fewer: What’s the Difference?
October 9, 2009. 12 Comments
As the newest blogger on the FWJ block, it wouldn’t be right to leave my readers in suspense for too long. I must address the tweet written by JoannaOC: “I want the line to be for people with ‘fewer than 10 items’ instead of those with ‘less than ten items.’” So many people get this grammar rule wrong (including editors of publications, who requested articles of “less than 1,000 words!”) it’s become accepted in society. Language purists, however, grimace at the mistake. But why does it have to be “fewer than 10 items?” Once you hear the answer, you’ll see [Read more…]
