The Style Book of The Detroit News Part 3

JESUS CHRIST IS ILLEGALLY SLAIN

nor should it read

JESUS CHRIST WAS ILLEGALLY SLAIN

but it should read

SAYS CHRIST WAS ILLEGALLY SLAIN

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 p.r.o.nouns 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 apt.i.tude 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 repet.i.tion 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, cla.s.sic style. The pa.s.sion 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 and direct. It is very difficult. I should advise any beginner to study the raciest, strongest, best spoken speech and let the printed speech alone; that is to say, to write straight from the thought without bothering about the manner, except to conform to the spirit or genius of the language. I once thought Latinized diction was to be invited; I now think Latinized expression is to be guarded against.--W. D. Howells.

A. P. STYLE

What M. E. Stone says to his correspondents on story writing may be read with profit by any newspaper man. The following is clipped from the monthly bulletin issued by the a.s.sociated Press to its correspondents:

A plain statement of fact is the best introduction to a news story. A simple, direct style--which does not mean a wooden style--is always desirable. In the opening sentence it is of particular value.

The news which a story contains is the one thing which ent.i.tles it to place in the a.s.sociated Press report. It is the news, not the manner of telling the news, on which the story must stand. It is therefore essential to present the vital point at the outset, in such form as will enable the reader to grasp it quickly, clearly and easily. For this purpose there is no acceptable subst.i.tute for plain English.

In an effort to make the most vivid and emphatic impression at the opening, objectionable forms of construction often are employed. A highly-colored or strained introduction almost always fails of its purpose of enlisting interest at once, since it tends to divert the attention of the reader from the subject-matter of the story to the writer's manner of telling it. This renders the introduction cloudy and lessens interest instead of stimulating it. Once the main point is established, the well known rules of news writing should be observed.

To say that "'William Brown may obtain a fair trial in Greene County,'

Judge Smith so ruled today," is to misstate the facts. It places the a.s.sociated Press on record as making a statement made by the court. Use of this and similar introductory sentences which require subsequent qualification is objectionable.

Opening sentences frequently lose directness and clearness because of the effort to crowd too much into them. All that is essential is to cover the vital point, leaving details for subsequent narration.

Introductions must be impartial. It is possible to take almost any given set of statements and present them in such a way as to convey any one of several shades of meaning. This may depend merely on the order of presentation. a.s.sociated Press stories must be accurate and accuracy involves not only the truthfulness of individual statements but the co-relation of these statements in such a way as to convey to the reader a fair and unbiased impression of the story as a whole. An account of a court proceeding, a political debate, or any other event which involves conflicting claims or interests, should not be introduced by singling out a particular phase of the story which is limited to one side of the controversy, simply because that is the most striking feature. Such a form of introduction tends to place the emphasis on one side of the case, giving bias to the entire story.

Stereotyped introductions should be avoided. One of the most common is the "When" introduction, as: "Two men were killed when a train struck ..." etc. "If" and "After" often are used similarly. Inverted sentences are also frequent; as "That the prisoner was guilty was the opinion expressed by ..." etc. Constant employment of these fixed styles becomes monotonous. Moreover, it is possible to state the facts more simply, directly and effectively without them.

BROADEN THE VOCABULARY

Edward Harlan Webster gives this excellent advice on how to broaden the vocabulary:

Practice is the first aid. Actually get hold of new words and then use them. You will perceive that you will not startle others so much as yourself. Gradually the words will begin to a.s.sume a standing in your vocabulary, and before long, they will seem like old friends.

To obtain these words, various practical methods are possible. Here are a few:

1. Find synonyms for words which you have a tendency to overuse.

2. Record words with which you are familiar but you never use--and then "work" them.

3. Make a list of important, unfamiliar words which you hear, or discover in your reading.

4. Listen carefully to the conversations or addresses of educated people.

5. If possible, try to translate from a foreign language. In this way a fine perception of shades of meaning, almost unattainable by any other method, is acquired.