Tips for Writing AP Style

AP stands for Associated Press and can be described as writing in an active voice. It's a good idea to allow AP writing style to carry over into other articles, including eHow, Suite101, TextBroker and WikiHow, even if AP has not been specifically requested. It is universally accepted by many organizations.

Some of the basics include spelling out all numbers below 10 (for example, instead of saying "8", write out "eight"). Under those same guidelines, spell out the word percent instead of using %. If writing out an age, sum of money, house numerals, time of day, year or day of the month, use the numeral description (for example, say that the girl was 24, rather than twenty-four). If beginning a sentence with a number (that is not a year), spell out the number. For example, instead of saying, "15 people were killed yesterday in a tragic accident on Center Street", say something like, "Fifteen people were killed yesterday in a tragic accident on Center Street".

If a city or state is well-known (like San Francisco), do not include the state. For an unknown city, indicate the state where the city is (i.e., Portage, WI). If a state is used alone in a sentence, there is a list of abbreviations to be used in order to follow AP style. Refer to a more in-depth resource for this list (see references below). When used alone, months should be written out, but if written with a date and year, abbreviate (i.e., if talking about the month of December, write out December, but if stating a date, write out Dec. 25, 2010).

Always cite references appropriately. If important information was pulled from a specific study, list the information with it. For example, "According to the Mayo Clinic website, tobacco cigarettes are one of the most addicting products available". Direct quotes should be written separately in their own paragraph. Quoted information should be in quotes, using proper English and spelling and in a new paragraph. Start a new paragraph to continue on with the article. Only use one space after periods, rather two. Always capitalize words like "Internet".