ABSTRACT
This chapter explores rules and guidelines that students already know about making their writing more effective. The ultimate rule of good writing is to write so the reader can understand. A stylebook lists preferences for spelling, word usages, punctuation and other elements of writing. It is adopted by a publication or news organization to maintain consistency, which is an important element of effective writing. Public relations writers generally adopt a stylebook for their internal and external writing on behalf of their organizations and clients. In public relations writing, most references to organizations involve singular pronouns. It is standard in literary and academic writing but not so much in journalistic and other less-formal writing styles. In generations past, newspaper articles were lengthy pieces of writing, and public relations practitioners had potential venues for their comments and explanations about newsworthy topics.
