style guides – Almost An Author

Reverential Capitalization, or God and Pronouns

An interesting thing happened to me on my way to being traditionally published. During my most recent edit, the editor changed all pronouns of God (he, him etc.) to capitals. In writing my novel, I did my due diligence and consulted several style guides to find that pronouns of God should not be capitalized.

Following the style guides did not mean I do not respect God (caps in English do not mean respect anyway). It meant I did not want the capitalization of pronouns to muddle clear communication to the largest number of readers as possible. It can be a distraction, which you don’t want. And a broader than Christian readership may think a Him or He in the middle of a sentence is there for emphasis, changing the meaning of the sentence.

Fervent Feelings

I discussed the changes the editor made with my husband and a couple of friends and found strong opinions on the subject. I unintentionally stoked the flames of a fight regarding grammar and religion. “Of course they should be capitalized,” was the initial reaction.

And then we opened the Bible.

We looked at the first translation, the King James, and found pronouns of God were not capitalized. We looked at the New International Version (the most used Bible translation), The English Standard, and The New Living translations and found no capitalized pronouns.

I use the New King James Version, and knew the pronouns were capitalized. But reading in Matthew, I found verse 16:1. It says, “ Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.” The capitalized pronouns read as though the Pharisees and Sadducees accepted Jesus as a deity, and they did not. Which to me, seemed to change the meaning of Scripture.

The Style Manuals

The Chicago Manual of Style, The Society of Biblical Literature, and Associated Press style guides, state that he, him, his, and so on shouldn’t be capitalized even when referring to God. The Christian Writers Manual of Style states: Most publishers, religious and general, use the lowercase style in large part to conform to the two most popular versions of the Bible (the best-selling NIV and the historically dominant KJV).”

I wanted to confirm most religious publishers used the lowercase style, so I dug around in my own library. I pulled out Historical Biblical Fiction and even one non-fiction book from Tyndale and Bethany House. Flipping through the pages, I found the style guides were right, they did not cap the pronouns referring to God.

Authors and publishing houses can make their own rules regarding reverential capitalization. But the large houses have chosen lowercase pronouns that refer to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, words that refer to God; the Lord, the Almighty, the Creator, are capitalized.

Those are the rules, but what are your thoughts on this subject?

Blessings,

KD Holmberg

K. D. Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website kdholmberg.com

Punctuation Series: How to Capitalize Tricky Words

Presentation is everything, especially when it comes to the publishing world. And your presentation of punctuation is crucial to your book’s success. But punctuation can be tricky, boring, and downright distressing at times. As a writer and an editor, I completely understand your frustration with grammar altogether. You’d rather write, right? Right! So for 2019, I’d like to focus on a simple, easy-to-understand punctuation series that I hope will be a help and encouragement to you, allowing you more time to write well.

How to Capitalize Tricky Words

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that capitalizing words are tricky. We want to make our manuscript as clean as can be for our editor because we want them to be more concerned about developing our content than fixing pesky punctuation errors … most of the time. (References used: Chicago Manual of Style [for manuscripts], The Associated Press Stylebook [for journalistic style], and Christian Writer’s Manual of Style [for biblical works or manuscripts], and Merriam Webster Online Dictionary [for everything].)

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, take notice how to capitalize these words:

Words using time reference.

a.m. [CMoS, AP]
p.m. [CMoS, AP]
eternity [CWMS]

Words referring to Deity.

Abba (term for God, as in “Father” or “Daddy”) [CWMS]
the Almighty
almighty God (used as an adjective here)
Alpha and Omega
Angel of the Lord (a visible manifestation of God)
the Anointed One
blessed name
Chief Shepherd
the Crucified One
the Door, the Eternal, the Guide, the Head, the Holy One
Divine King
the Divinity (but “the divinity of Christ”)
Divine Father
God’s Son
God’s Word (the Bible)
God’s word (statement or promise)
Light of the World

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but common words that are tricky to know how to capitalize.

Words referring to education.

Master of Science
master’s, master’s degree
business degree
Bachelor of Writing
bachelor’s, bachelor’s degree
MFA

Again, not exhaustive, but gives you a general idea. All are from CMoS.

Words referring to the Internet Age.

the Web (Merriam Webster dictionary), the web (AP)
webcast (AP)
webmaster (MW)
Wi-Fi (MW)
website (CMoS, AP)
internet (CWMS)
Internet (CMoS, MW)

Using correct capitalization is important because presentation makes a world of difference to an editor, agent, publisher, and readers. That may seem counterintuitive because the writing is equally important, but it’s the presentation that tends to enhance your credibility as a writer. (Especially of you self-publish and are doing your own editing.)

Next month, we’ll look at some more ways to edit the punctuation in your manuscript, but for now. . .

Please take a minute and join in the discussion! I’d love to hear from you!

What are some of your pesky capitalization words?

Tisha Martin writes historical fiction and nonfiction but also edits and proofreads for beginning and best-selling writers, professional editing agencies, and publishing houses. She has a BA in Professional Writing, an MS in English Education, and an editing certificate from the PEN Institute, affordable continuing education for editors. Active in American Christian Fiction Writers and The PEN, she appreciates the writing and editing communities. As Assistant Director of PENCON, a conference for editors, she enjoys travel marketing and updating PENCON’s Facebook Page. Connect with Tisha on her website www.tishamartin.com and engage in the conversation.