Bulletin editors craft

By Lloyd Davis, G&S Judge

Spare me the details

I recently read a bulletin that included a profile of a member. The member had a total of 11 children and grandchildren. In the profile, the editor listed the names and ages of all 11. While these details are of interest to the member being profiled, they are boring to the other members and anyone else reading the bulletin. If the guy has 11 children and grandchildren, stating it is sufficient.

Editors often quote secretaries' minutes verbatim. Some of this information can be monotonous. An editor is supposed to edit, meaning getting material ready for publication. The way to do this is to disregard parts of minutes, such as:

The meeting was called to order at 8:02 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:06 p.m.

Screamers

Exclamation marks are referred to as "screamers." Some writers refuse to ever use them, letting the text speak for itself.

If they are used, do so only occasionally. Never use them in multiples, nor with question marks. Question marks, too, should be used singly.

A common practice is to precede exclamation marks (and question marks) with a space. Don't do it.

Cities and states

Two-letter, postal-type abbreviations are for use only in addresses that include a ZIP Code. When writing a city and state, use the state abbreviation, except for states with five or fewer letters and the states of Alaska and Hawaii.

When standing alone, spell out all states.

When used together, both the city and the state must be followed by a comma (except at the end of a sentence).

These are the approved state abbreviations:

Ala. Ariz. Ark. Calif. Colo. Conn. Del.

D.C. Fla. Ga. Ill. Ind. Kan. Ky.

La. Md. Mass. Mich. Minn. Miss. Mo.

Mont. Neb. Nev. N.J. N.H. N.M. N.Y.

N.C. N.D. Okla. Ore. Pa. R.I. S.D.

S.C. Tenn. Vt. Va. Wash. W.Va. Wyo.

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