Editors and other prose stylists

Left to your own devices, to you prefer Chicago or AP? Why?

Left to my own, I’ll default to AP, because it’s what I was trained with when I was starting.

AP. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good reasons for exceptions to any style guide. Clarity and consistency should be the final word.

Words?

Chicago. It’s the style I’ve used for the past 10 years and I’m lazy.

Chicago. That’s the one I’ve used most, plus I’ve got the Chicago manual right here at my desk.

Hm, interesting. I’m also a Chicago gal – but it’s because that’s what I’m used to. I was just wondering if there were reasons other than habit for going AP. Apparently not.

I’ve used both and AP is easier in some respects but it can be hard to get used to.

Consistency is key, though. I’ve had to flip back and forth between Chicago, AP, and APA style and that gets messy, particularly when I’m writing for disciplines where there is no consistent standard. If you choose a standard, stick to it.

Robin

Chicago is more thorough, AP is a little easier to find your way around.

I use Chicago (except when teaching Journalism, where AP is the bible).

Modified A.P.

Turabian all the way!

Chicago. But for no better reason than that’s what I was taught. I don’t really have any preference.

I use them both. Chicago is generally better for books; AP for newspapers and articles. And thg GPO Style Manual for the nitty gritty like abbreviations.

But the AP gets extra points for their way to differentiate “burrow” and “burro” (alas, deleted once they started selling to the general public):

Great cite, RealityChuck!

Does anyone know who gets the credit for the argument for serial commas, that it clarifies sentences like “I’d like to thank my parents, God and Ayn Rand.”?

I liked AP because you looked up the word and AP gave you the usage. It also sometimes gave examples of the word used incorrectly (apparently “teenage” is a kind of shrubbery? Who knew? Therefore it called for a hyphen when referring to someone between the ages of 12 and 20).

It’s also much skinnier than Chicago. And like Realty Chuck I liked the burro/burrow thing although I remembered it being longer (it doesn’t appear in the AP stylebook that’s on my desk at work right now, though).

The serial comma quote I like is “The combo consisted of two guitars, a banjo, and a mandolin.” That came from some pro-serial-comma argument but I don’t think it was in one of the many stylebooks I have; I think it came from some copy-editor newsletter.

Chicago is my default setting. So many of my clients wanted me to use Chicago, that I just got used to it.