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If you want to get paid by an Associated Press publication, the AP stylebook is a resource that you'll need to use. You can hammer it to the train tracks if you're writing the next great American novel.
By the way, the link I posted -- that you quoted in your question -- has nothing to do with the AP; so I'm a bit curious as to why you asked whether I was implying that the AP was the ultimate resource.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 05-03-2014 at 09:38 PM..
Because you cited the AP stylebook before, no? I don't have any great amount of respect for AP reporting. It's one reference.
Again, the discussion involved an AP reporter who has a professional obligation to adhere to AP standards in his work for news publications, which is why I mentioned it. Whether you have any respect for the organization has no bearing here.
I guess I'm still missing the reason for the assumption that the link I posted was to the AP, but it doesn't matter.
Different types of paid writing involve the use of different style guides -- but they're just that; style guides. Most of the basics of grammar are the same throughout except for the use of superfluous trappings like the Oxford comma.
Of course, if you just write for play and not as a profession, you're free to thumb your nose at all of them.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 05-03-2014 at 10:21 PM..
There is nothing at all wrong with writing for play -- or for personal/spiritual enrichment, or just because you can -- and there's certainly nothing wrong with writing for money. But those who write professionally don't have the luxury of thumbing their noses at the style guides specific to the genre in which they're writing, whether it's the Associated Press or the house guide of a copywriting agency. That remains my point.
I'm also curious as to why this forum has no real discussion concerning writing.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 05-04-2014 at 12:17 AM..
It seems many accomplished bloggers aren't restricted by your pontification.
Accomplished bloggers make the majority of their income from ad revenue and not from their actual writing. Only a small handful actually make a living with blogs, by the way.
There actually is, however, a certain style that is specific to successful blogs. It may not have an organized stylebook behind it, but it's definitely there. It has to do with scannability, breaking up blocks of text, and generally capturing the reader's attention quickly and keeping it on that specific page. There is plenty of good information out there on the Internet about this if you're interested.
Fiction probably has the most room for deviation, but even free form, experimental fiction holds up better with some recognized structure.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 05-04-2014 at 01:26 AM..
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