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Topic: Words into Type vs. Chicago?
| Author | Message |
| annarebeck | Posted – 7/24/2007 2:59:49 AM | show profile I've seen some excellent summaries on these boards of how AP and Chicago styles differ, but I'm having trouble finding similar information about Words into Type as opposed to Chicago. Would anybody be willing to fill me in on the major differences, as I'm not very familiar with Words into Type and only have time to scan it before a copy test this week? |
| WinonaWriter | Posted – 7/24/2007 11:39:02 AM | show profile FYI -- WIT hasn't been updated since 1974. I find it somewhat useful but also kind of a dinosaur. It's kind of interesting though, as an artifact of the "old days" of publishing technology. Unfortunately, I don't know Chicago well enough to compare/contrast it with WIT in terms of specific rules of grammar. I have a copy of WIT at my desk, though, and would be willing to answer a couple specific questions if you want to post them here. |
| Mr. Biggles | Posted – 7/24/2007 2:59:02 PM | show profile Marie can probably weigh in on this better than I, but off the top of my head, I don't think there are that many material differences between the two in terms of pure style. Where WIT shines, even after 30-something years, is its grammar section, which condenses a lot of rules into easy-to-use guidelines. |
| JCB | Posted – 7/25/2007 4:06:14 AM | show profile This is going back a lot of years for me, but I remember WIT as being kind of a condensation of the essential, most usable parts of Chicago, not departing from Chicago in any substantial ways. There is far greater distance between Chicago and AP than Chicago and WIT. Kind of a Me and Minime. Back in the olden days when I was a copy chief that's how I'd use WIT--as a shortcut on the most common issues, a more user-friendly Chicago. I'd say Chicago and WIT are like father and son, AP more like a cousin. But it's been so long, I'm not sure how much has changed... |
| Mr. Biggles | Posted – 7/26/2007 11:48:25 AM | show profile A good current supplement to Chicago, by the way, is The Copyeditor's Handbook, which covers not only Chicago but AP and other styles. |
