Hi, Nick:

I see what you’re saying. The “don’t place colons after sentence fragments” stance goes too hard because colons can be used after fragments when introducing bulleted lists as well.

Ex: Our partners: or Our partners are:

Thanks!
Amber

You write, “Don’t place colons after sentence fragments; whatever precedes the colon should always be able to stand on its own.” But isn’t there a sentence fragment in this example: “George R.R. Martin reportedly said: “Some writers enjoy writing, I am told. Not me. I enjoy having written.”

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I would use a comma in place of the colon in that construction, although a colon works in the following: “George R.R. Martin reports struggling with the act of writing: “Some writers enjoy writing, I am told. Not me. I enjoy having written.””

The rule I stick to is not separating the verb from its object with a colon. If I’m wrong, please correct me.

Hi, Chris:

The colon goes outside the quoted material:

“We refuse to call ourselves refugees”: Kyiv City Ballet …

Thanks!

Hi, ShellyAnne:

Here is AP’s rule on introducing quotations:

“Use a comma to introduce a direct quotation of one sentence that remains within a paragraph. Use a colon to introduce long quotations within a paragraph and to end all paragraphs that introduce a paragraph of quoted material.”

If your quoted material is one sentence, you can bypass this issue by using a comma after “states.”

I don’t know the overall structure of your content, but turning “Regulations and Guidance” boldface could help readability.

Best,

Amber

Regulations and Guidance: The Regional Haze Rule states: “The Sate must include in its implementation plan a description of the criteria it used.

Hi, Brian:

I agree with you! A colon would make more sense there. A comma in a headline typically separates the main points of the news story or replaces “and.” In your example, the comma does neither of those things.

Unfortunately, AP editors haven’t said much about how to use colons as it relates to your question.

I encourage anyone who is familiar with journalism to weigh in.

Thanks for reading!

Amber

“After the blizzard, the big chill as East Coast digs out”

Hi, Chrystal:

This construction would be fine followed by a bulleted list (though AP uses dashes instead of bullets).

Thanks!