Revised from Publishing Tips from the
LWVUS
In general, the League follows The Chicago Manual of
Style, which is a widely recognized, moderate editorial
style manual. A second basic reference for both good style and
good writing is The Elements of Style by Strunk and
White.
Below are answers to a few frequently asked style questions,
including a few instances where we differ from The Chicago
Manual. For basic grammar reminders, please refer to the
Grammar Review distributed by the Publishing Department. For
other questions on style, punctuation (especially hyphens)
editorial marks, please refer to the Chicago Manual. It's
important that all of the communications from the
LWV--publications, letters, memos and so on--be grammatically
correct and follow a consistent editorial style.
Use of the League
Name(s)
The name of the League, the League of Women Voters of New
Jersey, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey Education Fund
or any local or state League always is capitalized.
When used as a noun in a sentence, any version of the League
name always takes the article the. Never write League
will participate or LWVNJ will send.... Always write
The League will participate or The LWVNJ will
send....
Never refer to the LWVUS or the LWVEF as National or LWVNJ
as State. This just supports we/they ways of thinking. Avoid
using the term "the national office" whenever possible. It is
better to use the LWVUS or the LWVEF or--occasionally--the
League's national office.
Capitalization
Personal, professional and other titles are capped when used
before a name (LWVNJ President Sandra Matsen). Titles when used
alone or after a name (Sandra Matsen, president of the League)
are lowercased. One exception: we always cap President when it
refers to the President of the United States.
Congress (the noun) is capped; congressional (the adjective)
is not; similarly: the President, presidential. The Senate and
the House of Representatives are capped. Senator Smith is
capped; the senator is not. Similarly: Representative Jones;
the representative. (Note that Representative is the correct
title for a member of the House; not Congressman or
Congresswoman.) Both senators and representatives are members
of Congress. The Administration is capped; the Clinton
administration is down.
Use caps with proper nouns (the House Rules Committee, the
Ford Foundation; subsequent references are lower case (the
committee, the foundation).
In general, when in doubt, leave it lower case; the trend is
toward less capitalization.
Numbers
Spell out numbers from one to ten; from 11 up, use numerals.
Exceptions: always use numerals with percentages (3 percent) or
in monetary numbers ($3 million). Spell out percent; the
% symbol is only used in technical documents, charts, etc.
Always use a comma in numbers beginning with 1,000 (not
1000).
Dates
January 1, 2000. (The Chicago Manual prefers 1 January 2000;
we do not.)
January 2000 (no comma).
The 1990s (no apostrophe).
Commas
A comma is used when two complete clauses of a compound
sentence are joined by a conjunction. (Women won the vote in
1920, and the League of Women Voters was founded that same
year.) A compound sentence is distinguished from a sentence
having a compound verb—that is, two or more verbs with the
same subject. (Carrie Chapman Catt led the fight for woman
suffrage and called for a League of Women Voters "to finish the
fight.")
Like The Chicago Manual, LWVNJ uses the last comma in
a series. (This mailing includes a leader's guide, a discussion
outline, a bulletin insert, and a list of resources.
Quotation
Marks
Commas and periods always go inside the quote marks. Other
punctuation marks go inside only if they are part of the
quotation.
Hyphens
The Chicago Manual devotes pages to the hyphen. One
basic rule is never use a hyphen between an adverb and an
adjective (the newly elected Congress, the fully funded
project). The trend is toward fewer hyphens; for example,
we always use nonprofit, (not non-profit) and
nonpartisan (not non-partisan) to describe the League.
Other commonly used words that should not be hyphenated include
cosponsor, proactive, reexamine, underrepresented,
interrelated. Two-part adjectives should be
hyphenated—e.g., two-day workshop;
meeting-ready materials.
Words to Avoid
Please resist the tendency to use more words or "more
important sounding" words than necessary. Instead of prior
to, use before. Instead of assist, use
help. Instead of utilize, use use. Instead
of in order to, use to. Don't use
disseminate for distribute. Don't use
impact as a verb; use affect. Instead of
stakeholders, use representatives, community members,
participants, leaders.
Also, don't use over when you mean more than;
don't use towards for toward; don't use
general public for public; don't use average
citizen for citizen.
Collective Nouns and Pronouns A collective noun—e.g.,
the League, the committee, Congress—takes the singular
pronoun it, not the plural pronoun
they.
Wrong: The LWV of Ohio reported that they would
contact their members of Congress.
Correct: The LWV of Ohio reported that it would
contact its members of Congress.
If you want to use a plural pronoun, you must use a plural
noun as your subject—e.g., Ohio League members vowed they
would contact their members of Congress immediately. Or:
Committee members made their views known.
Less/Fewer If you are
writing about something you can count, the correct adjective is
fewer—e.g., Fewer than a dozen people protested the
action. If you are writing about something you can't count, the
correct adjective is less—e.g., The League encountered
less opposition the second time.
Affect/Effect The verb
affect means "to influence." The verb effect means "to bring
about, to achieve." When used as a noun, effect means "the
result." e.g., The League's goals are to affect the level of
citizen participation and to effect change. Three months later,
the League could see the effect of its actions.
