that the story be rewritten by the reporter, by another reporter or by the copy reader himself. Because a man is reading copy, he should not imagine that he is not to write a story or rewrite one when occasion demands.

Charles G. Ross writes: "His [the copy reader's] work is critical rather than creative. It is destructive so far as errors of grammar, violations of news style and libel are concerned. But if his sense of news is keen, as that of every copy reader should be, he will find abundant opportunity for something more than mechanical deletion and interlineation. He may insert a terse bit of explanation to clear away obscurity, or may add a piquant touch that will redeem a story from dullness. To the degree that he edits news with sympathy and understanding, with a clear perception of news values, his work may be regarded as creative. If, on the other hand, he conceives it his duty to reduce all writing to a dead level of mediocrity * * * * he richly deserves the epithet that is certain to be hurled at the copy reader by the reporter whose fine phrases have been cut out—he is in truth a 'butcher' of copy."

Dr. Willard G. Bleyer writes: "The reading and editing of copy consists of (1) correcting all errors whether in expression or in fact; (2) making the story conform to the style of the newspaper; (3) improving the story in any respect; (4) eliminating libelous matter; (5) marking copy for the printer; (6) writing headlines and subheads."

LEARNING THE METIER

Said Robert Louis Stevenson to a painter friend: "You painter chaps make lots of studies, don't you? And you don't frame them all and send them to the Salon, do you? You just stick them up on the studio wall for a bit, and presently you tear them up and make more. And you copy Velasquez and Rembrandt and Vandyke and Corot; and from each you learn some little trick of the brush, some obscure little point of technic. And you know damn well that it is the knowledge thus acquired that will enable you later on to deliver your own message with a fine and confident bravado. You are simply learning your metier; and believe me, mon cher, an artist in any line without the metier is just a blind man with a stick. Now, in the literary line I am simply doing what you painter men are doing in the pictorial line—learning the metier."

PREPARING COPY

Use the typewriter. See that the keys are clean. Use triple space. Write on one side of the paper. Do not paste sheets together. Leave wide margins on both sides and at the top. Write your name and a brief description of the story in two or three words at top of first sheet. Number sheets. Never write perpendicularly in the margin. Never divide a word from one page to another, and if possible do not divide a word from one line to the next. Try to make each page end with a completed paragraph to aid the composing room in setting the story in "takes." When necessary to write in long hand, underscore u and overscore n, and print proper names and unusual words. Ring periods or write x to stand for them. When there is a chance that a word intentionally misspelled will be changed by the printer, write Follow Copy in the margin. Indent deeply for paragraphs. Use an end-mark to indicate your story is completed. Avoid interlining by crossing out the sentence you desire to correct and writing it again.

Save time for your office by care in writing and editing. A little thought before setting down a sentence will save you the trouble of rewriting and the copy reader the annoyance of reading untidy copy.

LEADS

There is generally a better way to begin a story than with A, An, The, It is, There is, There are.

Avoid beginning a story with figures, but when this must be done, then spell out, as: Ten thousand men marched away today.

The comprehensive A. P. lead is generally preferable, but in writing some stories, particularly feature stories, a reporter may find a more effective lead than the sentence or sentences that summarize the story.

Remember that your reader's time may be limited and that if your story begins with a striking sentence, arresting either because of what it says or the manner in which it says it, your story will be read.

THE CUTTLEFISH

He that uses many words for the explaining of any subject doth, like the cuttlefish, hide himself in his own ink.—Anon.

HEADS

"The head," says Ross, "is an advertisement, and like all good advertisements it should be honest, holding out no promise that the story does not fulfill. It should be based on the facts as set forth in the story and nothing else."

The head should be a bulletin or summary of the important facts, not a mere label.

It is usually best to base the head on the lead of the story. The first deck should tell the most important feature. Every succeeding deck should contribute new information, not merely explain previous statements or repeat them in different language.

The function of the head is to tell the facts, not to give the writer's comment on the facts.

The head for the feature story, the special department, the editorial or the illustration may properly be a title that suggests the material it advertises instead of summarizing it. Indeed, the success of a feature story often depends on its having a head that directs the reader to the story and arouses his curiosity in it without disclosing the most interesting content. Head writers should beware of revealing in the head the surprise of a story, if it has one.

Never turn in a head that you guess will fit. Make sure. Heads that are too long cause delay and confusion.

As a general rule write heads in the present tense.

Principal words should not be repeated. Do not, however, use impossible synonyms, as canine for dog or inn for hotel.

Make every deck complete in itself.

Use articles sparingly. Occasionally they are needed. Observe the difference in meaning between King George Takes Little Liquor and King George Takes a Little Liquor.

Avoid such overworked and awkward words as probe, rap, quiz, Russ.

Never abbreviate President to Pres.

Avoid ending a line with a preposition, an article or a conjunction, as,

Do not divide phrases, as,

Try to make each line of the first deck a unit, as,

Observe that in reading these heads there is a natural pause that comes at the end of the line. The same principle may govern the writing of three-line heads, as,

In the head just written observe that the first line has fewer letters because it contains two W's and an M. Either