You’re writing your book and you have characters with professional titles. Do you know when to properly capitalize or lowercase them?
If you’re following the Chicago Manual of Style, you should capitalize professional titles when they immediately precede a personal name and are thus used as part of the name (traditionally replacing the title holder’s first name). Otherwise, professional titles are normally lowercased when following a name or used in place of a name.
I just finished rewatching the American version of The Office, so I’ll use an example from that show to demonstrate.
In the show, Robert Lipton is a senator from Pennsylvania. (Notice how “senator” is lowercased in this sentence.)
Here’s when you would capitalize it.
In the show, Senator Lipton marries Angela Martin. (Notice that it’s capitalized here due to the above mentioned guideline.)
Here’s an exception. You do capitalize a professional title when used in direct address.
“I look forward to seeing you at the polls, Senator.”
This style guideline can be applied to any professional title in your story. I’m currently copyediting a fantasy series, and I’ve used this approach with titles such “king,” “captain,” and “dean,” to name a few.
I hope this has been helpful to any writers reading this post. If you’re ever unsure about the best way to approach things like this, an editor can help. I’m an editor specializing in fiction, and I’d love to work with you. I’m experienced with the Chicago Manual of Style, which is an industry standard in book publishing. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to chat.
Timothy