Updated May 13, 2019
Do your company’s executives ever break their writing style guide rules? How do you handle that as an editor/steward of your company’s content?
I advocate for following the rules with few exceptions.
As a freelance content editor and former editor for Fortune 500 corporations, the guide I’ve mostly followed has been the Associated Press Stylebook, and my clients’ company-specific style guides.
When I read this PR Daily blog post about breaking writing rules, I could definitely relate since, from time to time, my corporate clients (or their bosses) have wanted to ignore style guidelines. I know other editors can relate to this, too. This inspired me to add my own professional two cents.
Here are a few AP Stylebook rule-breaking opinions:
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- Never starting a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, nor, for, yet, so). This is not a rule to be broken, according to the AP Stylebook’s online Ask the Editor section:
Q. Beginning a sentence with a conjunction. Does AP have a rule against beginning a sentence with a conjunction such as “but,” “and,” “however,” or “therefore?” Classic and rigid grammar books state that conjunctions should never start sentences. Many writers, however, have begun to do it regularly. What does AP say about it? from Yakima, Wash. on Jun 09, 2015
A. There’s no AP Stylebook rule against starting a sentence with a conjunction. And it works well in some instances. But don’t overuse it. Or readers will be annoyed.
(You see what AP did there – combining the answer with an example and making it funny?)
Occasionally, my clients will start a sentence with a conjunction, and most of the time I don’t delete the conjunctions.
The reason: Using a conjunction as a connector (between sentences) is the way people really talk. It’s conversational, and the trend I’m seeing with my corporate communications clients is that they are actively using a more casual tone online to better attract and connect with their audiences. - Using a noun as a verb. I discourage clients from doing this to avoid the birth of new corporate buzzwords (I think we can all agree that there are way too many of those already.).
- Using “they” as a pronoun when referring to a singular noun. Not a fan of this deviation because it’s not grammatically correct. (But there is one exception. See next paragraph.)
As AP now states, sometimes the use of “they” as a singular pronoun is warranted:“In stories about people who identify as neither male nor female or ask not to be referred to as he/she/him/her: Use the person’s name in place of a pronoun, or otherwise reword the sentence, whenever possible. If they/them/their use is essential, explain in the text that the person prefers a gender-neutral pronoun. Be sure that the phrasing does not imply more than one person.” – AP Stylebook, Ask the Editor section
- Using “stream of consciousness” writing. I’d need a specific example of this to know whether it makes sense and whether it’s something a reader can follow. It sounds fine if the content is clear and if the goal of the content is to show the writer’s voice and personality, but it depends.
- Capitalizing titles that appear before names and not capitalizing titles after names. I encourage clients to adhere to this AP style rule, and they generally do so.
The problem with capitalizing titles after names is that it breaks one of the most basic AP Stylebook rules, which, in turn, makes the company look less professional.
When I see a title capitalized after a name my opinion is that the writer does not know AP style or is choosing to ignore AP style. To me, capitalizing titles after names is the same thing as “shouting” the title – as if the title is more important than it really is.
When clients don’t follow their style guides
Sometimes a corporate client wants to deviate from the company style guide. The job of corporate editors (or any other style guardians) is to know the company’s main style guide (AP or other) and the company-specific style guide and to continuously insist on adherence to those guides to maintain consistency and credibility.
Often clients have forgotten the rules, or they don’t know them. They may just need a reminder from an editor. Most of the time, in my experience, executives have been grateful for the knowledge, and they’ve complied by following style guides. (Afterall, that’s why they hire editors, to make sure everyone adheres to editorial standards.) Sadly, sometimes – even after you’ve educated them – some company executives insist on intentionally ignoring style rules, or they want to change one or two permanently through their company-specific style guide.
This can be very disconcerting to an editor. And the (disappointing) bottom line is that the client or executive is the boss. The client has the final say. Ultimately, editors need to honor the client’s wishes. And if clients repeatedly won’t listen to reason and it affects the integrity of the company’s content, it might be time to part ways. Style guides are the foundations of editing. Without them, how can an editor do his or her job?
Document company style guide changes
If there are requests to alter certain style rules, editors who remain on the job need to make sure deviations are documented (or updated) in the company style guide so that everyone creating content knows and follows the rules. That ensures that all content is consistent and in keeping with the company’s brand.
Do your clients or supervisors insist on writing style deviations?
Has this happened to you? How have you dealt with requests to deviate from writing style guides?
Are there specific style rules that you’ve deviated from and how did you make sure your corporate communicators revised those rules?
- Never starting a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, nor, for, yet, so). This is not a rule to be broken, according to the AP Stylebook’s online Ask the Editor section:
Don’t agree with #3, but absolutely agree that the client is always right–and everyone at your agency/workplace should be on the same page about it.
I usually deviate from the whole write out the word “percent” thing. Usually my coworkers/clients are happy to follow suit because it just looks weird.
The first problem is using AP Style as a corporate style.
It’s a terrible mismatch. The underlying needs of wire-service news writing are utterly different from marketing and business communications. This is why businesses sloppily deviate or “break the rules”; even if they can’t explain why, people can sense that it’s a poor fit in myriad ways. And once the exceptions begin, the door is wide open for all sorts of poor judgment. I could list numerous other AP guidelines that are regularly ignored when inconvenient.
If you jam a square peg into a round hole, it creates friction and splinters. Businesses that develop a house-style or find a better published style to adopt (i.e., one more similar to their own industry) find it much easier to adhere to.
The second problem is that it’s naive to say the client is always right. It makes me cringe.
That notion is only true for entry-level creatives, and those who prefer to operate like a basic print shop (and then complain about it in the evenings).
Our job should be to educate our clients on their options for conveying a message — help them understand what their choices are, which are better, and why. To do that, you obviously have to learn how to manage the relationship, build trust, know how to compromise or find other approaches, et cetera.
If you only ever take the client’s orders, your growth in the craft will be stunted, and worse, you’ll only get the sorts of clients who already know that they already know everything.
It saddens me when I hear creatives stating or accepting that notion as some kind of “truth.” If you’re passionate about your craft, then you owe it to yourself — and your client — to show more faith in your own judgment.
Thanks for your comments. You’ve made some great points and inspired me to update my post to clarify a bit.