For years I have been writing, we all have. We write for things like papers for classes, articles for our schools newspapers, cover letters for jobs, posts on peoples pages and even blogs. However, what I never knew was that there was a correct style of writing specifically used in the social media and PR practitioners world called, AP Style writing. Wow! what a different world it is to learn the "AP Style." Writing this way has been called the "correct" "professional" and even "proper" way of writing in the media. Well, if this is so then shouldn't we have all learnt this a little bit younger? If AP style writing is the correct, proper and professional way of writing in media shouldn't everyone be aware and know this type of writing style?
Well, according to many professionals this is the proper way of writing, and after learning it I would have to agree. AP style writing is the way in which we write. It teaches us the correct way it should be written such as punctuation, addresses, ages, capitalizations, courtesy titles, datelines, time elements and numerals. While these all sound very familiar to us in our basic learnings of reading and writing they however, are not. In my public relations class we were asked to read other articles and blogs by professionals who believe in AP Style writing. Some of these really got me thinking about my perception of writing. AP style writing is particularly important for people in the PR business who have to write articles, news releases, fact sheets or sometimes make public announcements. Without this correct way of writing style you may be looked upon as unprofessional or unqualified for the job. This is why it is particularly important for PR practitioners to not only understand but to know this religiously. AP Style also helps you stay relevant with how you address things in our ever changing world. For example the word "Web site" is known as correct to the regular public, AP Style says it should be correctly written like "website." Little things like this, is what keeps you updated and have a big impact on AP Style writing within the media world.
One of the articles I read was by Professor Gibson's titled "Professor Gibson's Top 15" by the From The Associated Press Stylebook. Which talked about why AP Style writing was important and which categorize he thought were the most important but the forgotten. I particularly liked when he said that the AP Style book can not be read but you should make sense of the word, scan it, review and peruse it again and again. http://web.ku.edu/~edit/ap15.htm
My favorite blog was by Sandy Young who is a public relations consultant and a freelance writer. In her blog "Why I Am an AP Style Stickler" Talks a lot more about the meaning of writing AP Style and how she converted. I loved when she referred to AP Style writing as the " The Journalist's Bible." I thought this was very true as many of times even know I find myself questioning and looking it up for clarification as you might with a religious bible. I also liked to see the interactions she had with other bloggers that either agreed or disagreed with her reasoning and how she responded to them all.
http://socalprblog.com/wordpress/?p=787
Lastly I read an article by Debbie Hilt whose article is titled "AP never goes out of style." This article shows you that the AP Style is ever changing as our world evolves but how AP Style is constantly
updating. For new words like "Web site" or " website" and "e-mail" or "email" and which in the journalist standards are the correct form for AP Style writing. All in which can be very valuable to you.
http://alberscommunications.com/2010/09/ap-never-goes-out-of-style/
Each article and or blog not only explains but gives you great reasons to why this is the best type of writing style and how it can benefit you in your future. Through this process I am a AP Style believer!
Check out some of these websites for yourself :)
Love,
SB xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment