[stylist] Tips for PR writing

[Donna Hill]

Brad, Bridgit and all,
First let me say that these are good guidelines, but in light of Brad's
questions, allow me to play the devil's advocate.

The AP Style Book, though widely recognized and used, is not the only show
on the road. The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and many
other papers have their own style books, and they all differ from one
another in many small -- but to their editors significant -- ways. Language,
grammar, spelling and punctuation are fluid and ever-changing. For instance,
many of us have used website as one word for years. Nonetheless, AP had it
listed as two words until a few months ago. 

Anyone who loves language and would like to read a great book on the fine
points upon which professional writers and editors disagree should check out
"The Elephants of Style" by Bill Walsh of the Washington Post. Both NLS and
Bookshare carry it. Yes, it's "Elephants" and is a humorous reference to
"The Elements of Style" by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White.

On the matter of not using postal abbreviations, my sense is that they
aren't used in part, because they are defined as codes not abbreviations. As
for abbreviating March, May, June and July, the M and J months are already
short, and length translates to ink and paper which translate to dollars.
There probably isn't enough of that to be saved in these cases.

The crucial things in writing press releases and so on are the facts
presented and the way they are used to get the journalist's attention. In
that context, the fine points of style are a service only when they are
consistent. I doubt seriously that a good press release would be rejected
because the writer used the New York Times' abbreviations am & pm, instead
of using the periods. When I put together the material for our upcoming
Guide to Writing Press Releases page on the Writers' Division website, I was
looking through my old press releases for examples of successful ones. I was
surprised -- though I don't know why I should have been -- to find many
examples of style errors. Most of these are mistakes I no longer make. One
such error was using three asterisks instead of three number signs after the
text of the release. Neither paper that carried the story mentioned it.

I bring these things up for two reasons. First, as writers, many of us are
fascinated with the nuances of language and how rules are explained. Second
and more importantly, for the sake of getting stories out there about
blindness issues, I believe it is important to empower those who do not
think of themselves as language buffs or writers. Though a certain level of
literacy is required (proper spelling, sentence structure & punctuation), I
am concerned that over-emphasis on style books could burden would-be
volunteer publicists to the point of being so bogged down with
technicalities that they fail to submit anything at all.

Donna


-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Brad Dunse'
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 9:48 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Tips for PR writing

I like this but have a couple questions if anyone knows the 
answer.  Why do you suppose they've not adopted the post office state 
abbreviations? When I see stuff like Neb., Mich., and so forth it 
seems extremely dated to me.  The same goes for  the use of a. m. p. 
m. as oppose to AM PM. The other thing is why aren't June, July, 
March and so forth abbreviated as the others when others are allowed 
to be abbreviated?

The rest makes perfect sense to me oddly enough. Something to be said 
for osmosis :).

Brad



Brad Dunse

The key to change... is to let go of fear --Roseanne Cash

http://www.braddunsemusic.com

http://www.facebook.com/braddunse

http://www.twitter.com/braddunse


_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site:
http://www.nfb-writers-division.org <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>

stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/penatwork%40epix.ne
t




=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.21, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.17450)
http://www.pctools.com/
=======





=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.21, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.17460)
http://www.pctools.com/
=======