Proper Use of Abbreviations in Fiction and Nonfiction

In this day and age of texting, people are becoming adept at using abbreviations. However, this is not appropriate, for the most part, when writing fiction or nonfiction, unless your characters have dialogues that involve texting.

You have to spell out the words. For example, if you want your character to drive a vehicle or motorcycle fast, you might be tempted to write… Jake put the pedal to the metal. His bike lurched forward. Soon he was cruising at 95 MPH. But, that wouldn’t be correct. You need to say he was cruising at ninety-five, believing your readers know you mean at what speed; or write that the numbers on the speedometer hit ninety-five; or write that he was cruising at ninety-five miles per hour. [Notice that 95 became spelled out, as well. Numbers under 100 are to be spelled out, unless other numbers in the same paragraph are 100 or higher.] It’s the same for other words people tend to abbreviate, like pounds (lbs.), number (#), and so on.

Technical writing and nonfiction still have rules, but you can use common abbreviations. You must spell the words out the first time and show the abbreviation in parentheses next to it. Example: RAdio Detection And Ranging (Radar) or Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Once you do this, don’t go back and forth between use of the full term and the abbreviation—use the abbreviation, unless it is used at the start of a sentence.

What about Addresses?

When an address is part of text, spell it out: Avenue, Boulevard, Building, Circle, Court, Drive, Lane, Parkway, Place, Road, Square, Street, Terrace. Also spell out directions that are part of an address, like North, South, East, and West (e.g., South Parkway). You don’t spell directions out when the address includes NW, NE, SE, SW (e.g. Aerie Parkway NE).

What about States?

Anytime you write a state name by itself, it should be spelled out (New York, not NY). When you write a state name after a city, it’s still preferred to be spelled out (Rome, Georgia)—except for the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.). However, some cities are so well known that the state or country does not need to be mentioned: New York City (you need to add “City” to clarify between the city and the state—or if you mean a particular borough of the city (there are five), use the specific one: Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens); Atlanta; New Orleans; San Francisco; Paris; London; etc.

I wish you the best with your writing, process, and progress.

Joyce Shafer

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