Some people call The Associated Press Stylebook “the journalist’s bible.” Others call it the journalist’s book of Job. Either way, if you’re a writer, it can help you fine-tune your work.
By whatever nickname, this newsroom stalwart gathers in one volume the AP’s rules for grammar, spelling, capitalization, and other writing-related matters.
The 640-page paperback edition has more than 3,000 brief, clear, and alphabetically arranged entries, many on topics not covered by Grammarly, Microsoft Editor, or similar tools. Why should you care about its rules when more than 2,000 newspapers have died since 2000? Isn’t that like feeding insects to pterodactyls? What if you hope to write not news stories but a memoir or Amish romances or blog posts that go viral?
If you’re interested, you may want to check out my essay “The Book Writers Love to Hate and Hate to Love” on Medium, in which offers some thoughts on the stylebook based on years of working with it.
One-Minute Book Reviews 
I like your style, that’s for sure. Even in this preview, I enjoyed your voice. Checked out the post on Medium, and that was awesome too. Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Stuart Danker — July 12, 2021 @ 8:19 pm |
Thanks, Stuart. I find it easier to focus on the big issues of literary style if I don’t have to think about the smaller ones dealt with by AP.
Comment by 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — July 13, 2021 @ 12:07 pm |