I Like Your Style (Manual)

I’m not talking about argyle sweater vests and trendy black plastic glasses. I’m talking about editorial style, like which ginormous style manual do you carry around in your satchel?

If man is only as good as the company he keeps, then an editor is only as good as the style manual she uses as her Bible. I have always been a Chicago girl, but magazines and other such publications are AP all the way. I have been doing some proofreading for the spring issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine, which I personally think is a gem of a publication. When an editor is lucky enough to actually enjoy what she is reading, it is such a surprise pleasure, like opening up a box of chocolates and not getting the one with raspberry mousse but instead a nougaty sensation. While I was working at Hopkins, an editor shined the light on the fact that AP has recently changed their standard on the spelling of internet from capital to lowercase. I promptly went to order the 2017 version, which to my dismay will not be available until July. When I am scratching my head on a certain headline style or hyphen choice, I can’t help but turn to my trusty Chicago manual first and it almost feels like a clandestine meeting when I am supposed to be favoring AP. I can still hear my former editor Maggie answer my query with, “Well, what would Merriam-Webster say?”

I have come to the conclusion that there is a time and a place for all the style and it’s just like picking out the right outfit for the right event. For example, no jorts and USA t-shirt at a wedding. Yes I have seen this, and yes it was awful.