an M or a W is equal to a letter and a half, and an I and a space are each equal to half a letter. The first line contains 14½ units; the second line contains 15 units; the third line contains 15 units. And yet the first line contains 14 letters and spaces, the second 16, and the third 17.

Every deck should contain a verb, expressed or implied. In this head,

the verb are is understood.

If the subject of the verb in the first deck is not written, it should be the first word of the second deck, as,

Omit all forms of the verb to be whenever possible. This head,

is more effective than this,

Avoid expressions that are awkward because of omission of some form of the verb to be such as this:

Negatives should be avoided. The head should as a rule tell what happened, not what did not happen.

Avoid the word may. The head should as a rule tell what happened, not what is going to take place, perhaps.

Beware of heads that contain words of double meaning, as,

The word nurses may be taken as a noun or a verb.

In this head the first word might be read as a noun or as a verb:

Use as little punctuation as possible in the first deck.

Avoid alliteration.

Use few abbreviations.

Use figures sparingly.

Insert subheads in long stories at intervals of 150 to 200 words. Use at least two subheads or none.

When there is a paragraph ending, The President spoke as follows:, place the subhead before this paragraph and not between it and the quoted matter.

Avoid such makeshift constructions as

Avoid beginning a head with quotation marks because the white space destroys the balance of the head. When it is unavoidable, use single quotation marks.

Avoid heads in which a dash takes the place of says, as,

When this style is necessary, use quotation marks.

It is permissible to make the first deck of a head a quotation without quotation marks, writing the name of the person quoted in full-face caps immediately below the deck. One need seldom resort to this expedient.

Be careful of the present tense in writing of historical events. The head on a story about the legality of Christ's trial should not read,

nor should it read

but it should read

Remember always in writing heads that although a newspaper man seldom reads more than the first deck, deciding by that whether to read the story, many readers of the paper read no more than the head, and for them it should summarize the story, embodying all its salient features.

GRAMMAR

The most common errors in grammar to be found in copy are in:

• The agreement of a verb with its subject.
• The relation of pronouns to their antecedents.
• The position of participles in relation to the words they modify.
• The use of co-ordinate conjunctions to connect elements of the same kind.

The position of correlative conjunctions with relation to the elements they connect.

To gain grace in writing one must either be born with a natural aptitude in the use of words—and such men: Stevenson, Poe, Walter Pater and others, are geniuses—or one must study the writings of these masters of prose and attempt to discover the secret of their success. It is not necessary that a good writer should know rules of grammar, but he must know enough to observe them. A writer may be unable to tell why a dangling participle is faulty English by testing it with a rule, but he may nevertheless avoid such a construction because his ear tells him it is not the best style.

Copies of the best grammars may be found in the office library and should be consulted when reporters and copy readers are in doubt.

SIMPLICITY

In character, in manners, in style and in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity.—Longfellow.

NOTES

DICTION

The newspaper writer must beware of two pitfalls in writing: Fine writing and dialect. Stilted English, pompous and high-sounding, is in just as bad taste as garish clothing or pungent perfume. Reporters often give to their stories a wordy and turgid flavor by their refusal to repeat a word, preferring a synonym. One often sees such sentences as this: "The policeman took his pistol away as he was about to shoot at the bluecoat's partner, another officer of the law." This is a quite unnecessary avoidance of the repetition of the word policeman.

Fine writing is quite out of place at all times in a newspaper and is particularly obnoxious when a reporter quotes a person of inferior mentality in polished—or what the reporter thinks are polished—phrases. Things like this shouldn't get into the paper: "It is with poignant grief that I gaze on the torn frame of my dear spouse," said Mrs. Sowikicki, as she stood beside a slab in the morgue.

On the other hand reporters should not try to be funny at the expense of someone inexpert in the use of the language. If a person interviewed uses bad grammar, correct him when you write the story. To make a person say Hadn't ought to of or Hain't got no is not only insulting to that person and to your readers, but is poor comedy.

Dialect must be absolutely accurate if it is used. Finley Peter Dunne can write Irish dialect and not many other persons in America can write as good. Probably no reporter on The News can write it. Dialect that might hurt the feelings of others who speak the same way should not be used. In fact as a general rule: DON'T WRITE DIALECT. The greatest masters of humor, such as Moliere, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, have obtained their best effects by writing their language straightforwardly.

THE GRIT OF COMPACT, CLEAR TRUTH

I began to compose by imitating other authors. I admired, and I worked hard to get, a smooth, rich, classic style. The passion I afterwards formed for Heine's prose forced me from this slavery, and taught me to aim at naturalness. I seek now to get back to the utmost simplicity of expression, to disuse the verbosity I tried so hard to acquire, to get the grit of compact, clear truth, if possible, informal