stylebook


 * __Barton's Style Book__**

All newspapers/magazines should have a style book, whether it's a properly bound booklet, a few sheets stapled together or an online guide like this one!

The point of a style boook is to lay down a 'house style' - consistency within the newspaper/magazine. It ensures consistency and accuracy within the publication. The style book rules on things such as standardised spellings, banned words, local peculiarities and the editor's pet hates. It is vital to follow the style book for the sake of continuity and professionalism.

Most style books are arranged alphabetically and may also be divided into sections, such as abbreviations, dates and figures, over-used words and titles:


 * Abbreviations** - unless they're well-known, such as BBC and IRA, spell them out in full the first time you use them! Don't put full stops between the letters. Latin abbreviations such as i.e or e.g have no place in copy. Birmingham should never be shortened to B'ham. Brum is sometimes OK - but only in a light-hearted story or headline. Titles for people such as Assistant Headteacher should be written out in full the first time and can then be abbrevaited - Assistant Headteacher becomes Asst. Head. Street should always be 'St'.


 * Addresses** - Leave out house numbers, but obtain road name, district and town.


 * Advise/Advice** - see licence.


 * Age** - you should generally find out people's ages or Year groups. But the age should only be at the start of the story if relevant. 'A 42-year-old man is in hospital following...' isn't relevant - if he was 43, it would not make any difference! But 'a 93-year-old man has set a world bungee jumping record...' is relevant.


 * Allege** - a useful word but be careful when you use it.


 * Apostrophes** - Apostrophes are used to denote the possessive (Barton's style book, Year 10's homework) or to indicate a missing letter (can't, wouldn't).


 * Brevity** - every word must pay it's way. 'Was freed' NOT 'walked free from court'. 'Met' NOT 'met with'. 'Firstly' NOT 'in the first instance'. And so on....remember all stories have a word limit!


 * Capital letters** - use sparingly - for proper names (Jamie Barton, Heartlands Sports College), roads (Great Francis St), special names and titles (Birmingham City Council, the Headteacher). Note though: the governors, the student council. Use capitals for the titles of books, films, plays - and you don't need to put quote marks around them.


 * Cliches** - Avoid them like the plague. Don't even touch them with a 10ft barge pole....


 * Collective Nouns** - News pages use the singular (Heartlands Sports College is....) and Sports pages use the plural (The Year 9 football team are...)


 * Colour** - Don't refer to someone's colour unless it is important.


 * Common Mistakes** - All Right NOT alright. A lot NOT alot. Different from NOT different to or than. Less than with qunatities and fewer than with people (Less than £50, fewer than 50 people). Centre on NOT centre around.


 * Dates** - September 11, NOT 11th of September or September the 11th.


 * Disabled** - People are not disabed. They 'have a disability.'


 * Figures** - see Numbers.


 * Hyphens** - use as follows: To make the meaning of a word clear and not confusing (re-form and reform or re-sign and resign). When two vowels come together awkardly (re-elect, co-operative). To separate lower case and capitals (Anti-American). With prefixes (anti, ex, far, fellow, non, pro, self, semi). In compound words (out-of-date, 13-years-old)


 * Less** - applies to objects and not to quantity (There is less wind today than yesterday). BUT it is NOT 'There is less people here than yesterday'. The correct word is fewer (There are fewer people here than yesterday)


 * Licence** - 'c' is for nouns, 's' is for verbs. (The licensing authority accepted their request for a licence.' This applies to all such words, including advise/advice, practise/practice.


 * Myself** - Almost always misused. It is NOT 'John and myself are going for a walk' - it's 'John and I....'. It is NOT 'The wards for best pupils have gone to John and myself' - it's '.....have gone to John and me.'


 * Numbers** - One to ten must be written out in words. If it is 11 and above, use figures. Try to avoid starting sentences with a figure. If you really have to, it's 'Twelve pupils visited Millenium Point....'


 * Over-used words** - ban, blast, rap, bid, probe, boost, shock, sensation - avoid these tabloid-style words which are called 'journalese.'


 * Per-cent** - Put percentages into context - instead of saying '25 per-cent of the school are in favour of....', say 'A quarter of the school are in favour of.....' Note that 'per-cent' should always be written out, rather than using '%'.


 * Practise/Practice** - see Licence.


 * Racism** - Don't mention someone's colour or religion unless it is relevant. See also Colour.


 * Sexism** - A femasle over the age of 18 is a woman, not a lady or a girl. Use chairman/chairwoman or spokesman/spokeswoman - chairperson or spoesperson sounds clumsy. It's 'firefighters' NOT 'firemen' and 'cleaner', NOT 'cleaning lady'.


 * Split Infinitive** - Don't split your infinitives! It is 'to attack quickly', NOT 'to quickly attack.'


 * Stage** - we don't stage demonstrations. We don't stage protests. We only stage theatre productions! Otherwise, we 'demonstrate' or 'protest'.


 * Substitute** - particularly in sports writing, we subsitute something or someone FOR not BY.


 * Suffering** - we do not report that people 'suffer' from Parkinson's disease or AIDS or anything else. They 'have' it. After all, you don't 'suffer' from having dark hair or being left-handed or being short-sighted.


 * Swoop** - birds swoop. No one else! (not even at dawn!)


 * Tautology** - use only one word to avoid saying the same thing twice in different words. Something can't be 'very unique', it's just 'unique'. Backing or support NOT 'full backing' or 'full support'. Priority NOT 'top priority'. The extra word is not needed in these cases.


 * Titles For Teachers** - always include teachers titles and names, then refer to them by title - 'Head of Media Studies Mr Barton', then 'Mr Barton' later on in the story.


 * Titles For Pupils** - use first name AND surname when first mentioned. Then just use the first name further on down in the story if necessary. For sport, just use the surname.


 * Titles For Others** - if you interview a vicar, it is Rev Joe Scroggins, then Mr Scroggins NOT Rev Scroggins.


 * Try** - you try TO do something, not try AND as in, 'We will try to reach a acceptable solution.'


 * Value Judgements** - it is not your place to give them. If you must use one (as in ferocious attack, senseless behaviour, or attractive model) make sure you can justify it by having someone else say it in their quote rather than you reporting it in your story!