AP style can feel confusing, and even daunting at times if you are not comfortable using it. After learning a few rules though, and familiarizing yourself with AP style writing, it will become easier the more you practice.
The first rule has to do with the Oxford comma. This refers to when a comma is placed before the word “and” in a list. AP style does not use this comma. For example if I were to write out the list, eggs, bacon, grits and sausage, I do not put the comma after grits and before sausage.
When using AP style writing, it is important to remember the rule about the letters one through nine. These numbers should always be spelled out. After the number nine, the numbers 10 and up are written as digits. For example, the sentence “there were 12 people invited, but only nine attended” would follow the correct format.
Going along with rule two, the third rule is that ages will always use figures. Even if the number is under ten, you will use the digit for their age. For example, “the girl is 12 years old and the boy is 2 years old” would be written with figures.
Rule four is tricky. It is important to remember the states that never get abbreviated. There are eight states that will never be abbreviated in AP style. Those states include, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. These states will always be spelled out in full.
The fifth rule is simple. When using a name of a person, you should first introduce them with their first and last name. Then, after the first time, you should only refer to them by their last name. For example, “Jon Smith went to the store on Saturday… Smith stated that,” would follow AP style.
Lastly, another common rule in AP style is when talking about a college major. We have the tendency to want to capitalize the area that a student is studying. Instead, we want to keep that lowercase. For example, you would say, “She is studying public relations” not “She is studying Public Relations.”
Although AP style writing is confusing, it is important to remember these six common rules when writing.
