Civil Air Patrol

1. Civil AirPatrol Writing Effectively Dan Bailey, Online Managing Editor,NHQ ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

2. Overview We all know how to write ... prettymuch. And we all know what to write ... more or less. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

3. Overview Writing effectively, however, is what separates a fine – and even more importantly, perhaps, a publishable – piece of writing from an adequateone. Effective storytelling is what we should strivefor. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

4. Overview And why is thatimportant? First, of course, everyone wants to do the best job he or she cando. Second, an effectively communicated story is far more likely to convey your message – namely, that members of your squadron or wing are doing great things for their community asvolunteers. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

5. First thingsfirst So where do we start? We start at the beginning, common sensesays. Actually, though, that’s not always the case, depending on how we define “thebeginning.” ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

6. First thingsfirst Too often, submissions we receive for CAP.news are told strictly chronologically. Sometimes that works, but just as often itdoesn’t. I try to follow a simple rule of thumb: If you were telling the story to a friend, how would you start? ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

7. First thingsfirst You’d probably start by saying something along the lines of, “Today we found a plane that went missing two days ago! The pilot was banged up, but he’s in the hospital and he should beOK.” It’s highly unlikely you’d start by telling your friend, “This morning at 0800 we received a tasking from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center to help search for an aircraft reported missing on Thursday, March21.” ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

8. First thingsfirst And yet there’s probably a 50-50 chance that a search and rescue story submitted for publication on CAP.news started just thatway. Instead, begin with the most importantand interesting part of thestory. And while you’re at it... ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

9. Generalguidelines Avoid abbreviations whenever possible. Second and subsequent references to CAP are fine, assuming you’ve already written out our full name. The same goes for the familiar likes of FEMA or theFAA. Otherwise, though, spell it out. “ALWG” means nothing to the public. Neither does “SAR” or “SAREX” or other forms of shorthand thatwe’re likely to use among ourselves, like“O-rides.” ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

10. Generalguidelines You’re most likely writing for a non-CAP audience. The people you’re trying to communicate with don’t have a clue what “AL-032” is. Write “the Alabama Wing’s Maxwell Composite Squadron”instead. And be careful to use exact names. A significant portion of the submissions I see misstate the exact names of airports, for instance, or they omit members’ first names – particularly those ofcadets. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

11. Generalguidelines Use Associated Press style. It differs from military style, and it’s preferred by any news outlet worthy of the name. The main reason you should use it is to require as little work as possible for the newspaper editor who might be considering your submission for publication. In other words, the less the editor has to do, the more likely you are to get published ... especially as newspaper staffing continues todwindle. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

12. Generalguidelines The most common violations of AP style we see are ranks. If Joe Jones is a CAP first lieutenant, AP dictates that he’s 1st Lt. Joe Jones, not 1Lt Joe Jones or some other version of therank. His daughter is Cadet Airman 1st Class Jane Jones, not C/A1C Jones or whatever other version someone came upwith.(AP rank abbreviations are included at the end of this presentation.) ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

13. Generalguidelines The next most common AP style violation is probably capitalization of titles. If a title occurs in front of a name, it’s capitalized – Gov. Kay Ivey, for instance. If it’s found elsewhere in a sentence, it’s lower-case – Kay Ivey, governor. The governor announced a programFriday. Heather Wilson is secretary of the AirForce. In addition, use standard style for time of day, rather than military style – 8 a.m., not 0800. The same goes for dates – March 23, not 23March. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

14. Organization Probably most, if not all, of you have encountered the term “inverted pyramid” as an approach to writing anarticle. It’s by no means an ironclad rule for organizing a story, and that’s particularly true when you’re writing a feature story as opposed to a pure news story. But it has its uses, and following it makes sure you’ve covered the essentials. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

15. Organization Organization ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

16. When you’re writing... The elements in the top level of the inverted pyramid should be familiar to most of us – the five W’s (Who, What, Where, When, Why) and H (How). Crowding all of those into an opening sentence would probably be quite cumbersome, but they do need to be addressed early in your article. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

17. When you’re writing... • Inaddition: • Keep your prose simple. When you do have to use complex sentences, however, as will sometimes prove to be the case, do your best to offset them with simple, straightforward statements. I did that justnow. • Avoid using bigwords. • Keep paragraphs short – one or two sentences should suffice. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

18. When you’re writing... • Write in active voice. For instance, “A ground crew from the XYZ Composite Squadron found the plane,” rather than “The plane was found by a ground crew from the XYZ CompositeSquadron.” • Use quotes from more than one source; keep them short and to thepoint. • Limit your release to one or 1½ pages if at all possible. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

19. After you’ve written... • Be sure to include a headline and,if needed, asubhead. • Proofread your release at least twice. If at all possible, have someone elseread it aswell. • Avoid common mistakes. Remember: “hangars” for planes, “hangers” for clothes. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

20. After you’ve written... • Always include a graphic element with your submission, even if it’s as simple as a wingor squadron patch or a head-and-shoulders photo of someone quoted in or otherwise important to thearticle. ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!

21. Rank abbreviations per AP Use these abbreviations (or, in some cases, the lack thereof) for rankwhen written in front of a senior member or cadet’s name:Major General – Maj. Gen. Lieutenant General – Lt. Gen. Colonel – Col. Lieutenant Colonel – Lt. Col. Major – Maj. Captain – Capt. First Lieutenant – 1st Lt. Second Lieutenant – 2nd Lt. Chief Master Sergeant – Chief Master Sgt. Senior Master Sergeant – Senior Master Sgt.Master Sergeant – Master Sgt. Technical Sergeant – Tech. Sgt. Staff Sergeant – Staff Sgt. Senior Member – Senior Member Cadet Senior Airman – Cadet Senior Airman Cadet Airman First Class – Airman 1st Class Cadet Airman – Cadet Airman Cadet Airman Basic – Cadet Airman Basic Note: For cadet ranks, spell out “Cadet” instead of using “C/” ONE CIVIL AIR PATROL, EXCELLING IN SERVICE TO OUR NATION AND OURMEMBERS!