My old friend: AP Stylebook

 I paid for the Associated Press Stylebook online edition today.

I feel more like an editor already.

The AP Stylebook is like an old friend. I got my first copy in college. During my years at the central Wisconsin papers, I went through many copies, until finally we got the online versions. It’s still not quite the same as the paperback, spiral-bound edition. The good part is the online version can be updated constantly, so you’re never out of sync with AP’s guidelines.

But there was something about paging through the Stylebook. I had certain pages marked with Post-it notes for easy reference. In fact, I kept my most recent newspaper AP Stylebook. It’s from 2010, but it still has my pages tagged. I had it at the office since I left journalism. I brought it with me to Tennessee. I guess I am nostalgic about some things.

Beginning in college, I’d read my Stylebook cover to cover. Originally, we’d be tested on it. Later, I would read it to see what was new with each edition. Then, sometimes I’d read sections of it to familiarize or remind myself with what all was there. I’m only in the D’s in the online version, but I have segued into commas, adjectives and more.

I learned early on to look it up – even if I didn’t know if it would be there. You’d be surprised at what’s in the AP Stylebook. And if it wasn’t there, then you had to look elsewhere. But for most newspaper stuff, it was there, in good old black and white.

I still have some AP entries burned into my brain. Unfortunately, some of them have changed. (Over/more than, for example. Please don’t get me started.) Affect/effect. Ages. State abbreviations in datelines. Street abbreviations with numbers. A lot of stuff most people don’t care about.

Ah, but that’s the editor’s job. To care about stuff that other people just read past without a second thought.

Editors are picky. Detail-oriented. Organized. Curious. Questioning. Perfectionists. We want to get it right. We hate it when we don’t.

That’s why I loved my Stylebook. It would help me be right more often than not. Now that it’s back with an up-to-date online subscription, I feel like an old friend has returned to my life, and I’m ready to edit again.