For the purpose of a more complete study of the subject, however, we shall consider only dramatic criticism that is not restricted by editorial dictum or by the requirements of paid-space. That is, we shall imagine that we can praise or condemn or say anything we please concerning the dramatic production which we are to report. When we look at the subject in this way there are some positive things that may be said about theatrical reporting, but there are many more negative rules, that may be reduced to mere "Don'ts." The same principles hold good in dramatic criticism that is hampered by policy, but to a less degree.

In the first place, the one thing that a dramatic reporter must have when he begins to write his copy after the performance is some positive idea about the play, some definite criticism, upon which to base his whole report. It is impossible to write a coherent report from chance jottings and to confine the report to saying "This was good; that was bad, the other was mediocre." The critic must have a positive central idea upon which to hang his criticism. This central idea plays the same part in his report as the feature in a news story—it is the feature of his report which he brings into the first sentence, to which he attaches every item, and with which he ends his report. To secure this idea, the reporter must watch the play closely with the purpose of crystallizing his judgment in a single conception, thought, or impression. Sometimes this impression comes as an inspiration, sometimes it is the result of hard thought during or after the play. It may be concerned with the theme of the play, the playwright's work, the lines, the staging, the effects, the tricks, the acting as a whole, the acting of single persons, the music, the dancing, the costumes—anything connected with the production—but the idea must be big enough to carry the entire report and to be the gist of what the critic has to say about the play. It must be his complete, concise opinion of the performance.

When, as the critic watches the play, some idea comes to him for his report he should jot it down. As the play progresses he should develop this idea and watch for details that carry it out. There is no reason to be ashamed of taking notes in the theater and the notes will prove very useful at the office afterward. Perhaps after the play is over the critic finds that his jottings contain another idea that is of greater importance than the first; then he may incorporate the second into the first or discard the first altogether. Even after one has crystallized his judgment into a concise opinion he must elaborate and illustrate it and the program of the play is always of value in enabling one to refer definitely to the individual actors, characters, and other persons, by name. But, however complete the final judgment and the notes may be, it is always well to write the report immediately. When one leaves the theater his mind is teeming with things to say about the play, thousands of them, but after a night's sleep it is doubtful if a single full-grown idea will remain and the jottings will be absolutely lifeless and unsuggestive.

This is the positive instruction that may be given to young dramatic critics. It is so important and is unknown to so many young theatrical reporters, that it may be well to sum it up again. A dramatic criticism must be coherent; it must be unified. It must be the embodiment of a single idea about the play and every detail in the report must be attached to that idea. It is not sufficient to state the idea in a clever way; it must be expanded and elaborated with examples and reasons and must show careful thought. It is well to outline the report before it is written and to arrange a logical sequence of thought so that the result may be well-rounded and coherent.

The following is an example of a dramatic criticism in which this course is followed. It neither praises nor condemns but it points out gently wherein the play is strong or weak—and every sentence is attached to one central idea:

The first admonition in theatrical reporting is "Don't resumé the plot or tell the story of the play." This is almost all that many dramatic reporters try to do, because it is the easiest thing to do and requires the least thought. But, after all, it is usually valueless. The story of the play does not interest readers who have already seen the play and it spoils the enjoyment of the play for those who intend to see it. The usual purpose of any theatrical report is to criticize, but a report that simply resumés the story of the play is not a criticism; hence space devoted to the story is usually wasted. To be sure, this admonition must be qualified. If the development of the critic's judgment of the play requires a resumé of the story, there is then a reason for outlining the action. However, even then, the outline should be very brief.

The following is a typical example of the usual dramatic reporting which is satisfied when it has told the story of the play. In this, the first two sentences are a very bald attempt to repay the manager for his tickets. The resumé of the story, given very obviously to fill space, is not of any critical value. The only real criticism is at the end and is inadequate because the praise is given without reason.

The word criticism must not lead the reporter to think that, as a critic, his only function is to find fault. To criticize may mean to praise as well as to condemn. If the critic is not restricted by the policy of his paper, he should be as willing to praise as to condemn, and vice versa. But whichever course he takes he must be ready to defend his criticism and to tell why he praises or why he condemns. There is always a tendency to praise a play in return for the free tickets; this should be put aside absolutely. The critic owes something to the public as well as to the manager. If the play seems to him to be bad, he must say so without hesitation and he must tell why it is bad. Too many really bad plays are immensely advertised by a critic's undefended statement that they are not fit to be seen. Had the critic given definite reasons for his condemnation, his criticism might have accomplished its purpose. In the same way it is useless to say simply that a play is good. Its good points must be enumerated and the reader must be told why it is good.

However, criticism must be written with delicacy. If your heart tells you to praise, praise; if your heart tells you to condemn, condemn with care. Remember that your condemnation may put the play off the boards or at least hurt its success, and there must be sufficient reason for such radical action. The critic's debt to the public is large, but he owes some consideration to the manager. He must hesitate before he says anything that may ruin the manager's business. Critics very often condemn a play for trivial reasons; they feel indisposed, perhaps because their dinner has not agreed with them, the play does not fit into their mood and they turn in a half column of ruinous condemnation. Perhaps they like a certain kind of production—farces, for instance—and systematically vent their ire on every tragedy and every musical comedy. They do not use perspective; they do not judge the stage as a whole. No matter how poor a play is or how much a critic dislikes it, he must consider what the stage people are trying to do and judge accordingly. In many cases it is not the individual play that deserves adverse criticism, but the kind of play. All of these things must be considered; every dramatic critic must have perspective. He must be fair to the stage people and to the public; his influence is greater than he may imagine.

No matter how strong the occasion for condemnation may be, the dramatic critic is never justified in speaking bitterly. The poor production is not a personal offense against him nor against the public. It is simply a bad or an unworthy attempt and his duty is confined to pointing how or why it is not worthy. That does not mean that he is justified in using bitter, abusive, or even sarcastic language. It is great sport to make fun of things and to exercise one's wits at some one's else expense—it is also easy—but that is not dramatic criticism. The public asks the critic to tell them calmly and fairly, even coldly, the reasons for or against a production—the reasons why they should, or should not, spend their money to see it—bitter sarcasm overreaches the mark. Just as soon as a critic tries to be personal in his remarks on a play he is exceeding his prerogative and is open to serious criticism himself.

The necessary attributes of a dramatic reporter, as we have seen, are: fairness, logical thinking, and a background of stage knowledge. And of these three, the background is of the greatest importance; it is the stimulus and the check for the other two. The more a critic can know about every phase of the theatrical profession, contemporary or historical, the better will be his criticisms. The more knowledge of the stage that his copy shows, the more greedily will his readers look for his "Theatrical News" each day. However clear his idea of a play may be he cannot express it clearly and readably without a background of other plays to refer to. And, by the same sign, a wealth of allusions and a quantity of theatrical lore will often carry a critic past many a play concerning which he is unable to form a clear opinion. To develop your ability as a dramatic reporter, watch the theatrical criticisms in reputable dailies and weeklies and learn from them.

Back to contents

XVII

STYLE BOOK

The names of national officers, national departments, etc.: President, Vice President, Navy Department, Department of Justice (but not bureau of labor), White House, Supreme Court (and all courts), the Union, Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, Union Jack, United States army, Declaration of Independence, the (U. S.) Constitution, United Kingdom, Dominion of Canada.

All titles preceding a proper noun: President Taft, Governor-elect Wilson, ex-President Roosevelt, Policeman O'Connor.

The entire names of associations, societies, leagues, clubs, companies, roads, lines, and incorporated bodies generally: Mason, Odd Fellow, Knights Templar, Grand Lodge of Knights of Pythias, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Wisconsin University, First National Bank, Schlitz Brewing Company (but the Schlitz brewery), Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company, the Association of Passenger and Ticket Agents of the Northwest, Clover Leaf Line, Rock Island Road, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Stock Exchange (but the board of trade and the stock exchange).

The names of all religious denominations, etc.: Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Spiritualist, Christian Science, First Methodist Church (but a Methodist church), the Bible, the Koran, Christian, Vatican, Quirinal, Satan, the pronouns of the Deity.

The names of all political parties (both domestic and foreign): Republican, Socialism, Socialist, Democracy, Populist, Free Silverite, Labor party, (but anarchist).

Sections of the country: the North, the East, South America; southern Europe.

Nicknames of states and cities: The Buckeye State, the Hub, the Windy City.

The names of sections of a city and branches of a river, etc.: the East Side, the North Branch.

The names of stocks in the money market: Superior Copper, Fourth Avenue Elevated.

The names of French streets and places: Rue de la Paix, Place de la Concorde.

Names of automobiles: Peerless, the White Steamer, Pierce Arrow.

Names of holidays: Fourth of July, Christmas, New Year's day, Thanksgiving day.

Names of military organizations: First Wisconsin Volunteers, Twenty-third Wisconsin Regiment, Second Army Corps, second division Sixth Army Corps, National Guard, Ohio State Militia, First Regiment armory, the militia, Grand Army of the Republic.

The names of all races and nationalities (except negro): American, French, Spanish, Chinaman.

The nicknames of baseball clubs: the White Sox, the Cubs.

Miscellaneous: la France, Irish potatoes, Enfield rifle, American Beauty roses.

2. Capitalize when following a proper noun: Bay, block, building, canal, cape, cemetery, church, city, college, county, court (judicial), creek, dam, empire, falls, gulf, hall, high school, hospital, hotel, house, island, isthmus, kindergarten, lake, mountain, ocean, orchestra, park, pass, peak, peninsula, point, range, republic, river, square, school, state, strait, shoal, sea, slip, theatre, university, valley, etc.: South Hall, Park Hotel, Hayes Block, Singer Building, Dewey School, South Division High School, Superior Court, New York Theatre, Beloit College, Wisconsin University, Capitol Square.

3. Do not capitalize when following a proper name: Addition, avenue, boulevard, court (a short street), depot, elevator, mine, place, station, stockyards, street, subdivision, ward, etc.: Northwestern depot, Pinckney street station, Third ward, Harmony court, Amsterdam avenue, Broad street, Wingra addition, Washington boulevard, Winchester place.

4. Capitalize when preceding a proper noun:—All titles denoting rank, occupation, relation, etc. (do not capitalize them when they follow the noun): alderman, ambassador, archbishop, bishop, brother, captain, cardinal, conductor, congressman, consul, commissioner, councilman, count, countess, czar, doctor, duke, duchess, earl, emperor, empress, engineer, father, fireman, governor, her majesty, his honor, his royal highness, judge, mayor, motorman, minister, officer, patrolman, policeman, pope, prince, princess, professor, queen, representative, right reverend, senator, sheriff, state's attorney, sultan: Alderman John Smith (but John Smith, alderman), Senator La Follette (but Mr. La Follette, senator from Wisconsin).

The same rule applies when the following words precede a proper noun as part of a name: bay, cape, city, college, county, empire, falls, gulf, island, point, sea, state, university, etc.: City of New York, Gulf of Mexico, University of Wisconsin, College of the City of New York, College of Physicians and Surgeons.

5. Do not capitalize:

The names of state bodies, etc.: the senate, house, congress, speaker, capitol, executive mansion, revised statutes. (These are capitalized only when they refer to the national government: e. g., the capitol at Madison, the Capitol at Washington.)

The names of city boards, departments, buildings, etc.: boards, bureaus, commissions, committees, titles of ordinance, acts, bills, postoffice, courthouse (unless preceded by proper noun), city hall, almshouse, poorhouse, house of correction, county hospital, the council, city council, district, precinct: e. g., the fire department, the tax committee.

Certain other governmental terms: federal, national, and state government, armory, navy, army, signal service, custom-house.

Points of the compass: east, west, north, south, northeast, etc.

The names of foreign bodies: mansion-house, parliament, reichstag, landtag, duma.

Common religious terms: the word of God, holy writ, scriptures, the gospel, heaven, sacred writings, heathen, christendom, christianize, papacy, papal see, atheist, high church, church and state, etc.

The court, witness, speaker of the chair, in dialogues.

Scientific names of plants, animals, and birds: formica rufa.

a. m., p. m., and m. (meaning a thousand); "ex-" preceding a title.

The names of college classes: freshman, sophomore.

College degrees when spelled out: bachelor of arts; but B. A.

Seasons of the year: spring, autumn, etc.

Officers in local organizations (election of officers); president, secretary, etc.

Certain common nouns formed from proper nouns: street arab, prussic acid, prussian blue, paris green, china cup, india rubber, cashmere shawl, half russia, morocco leather, epsom salts, japanned ware, plaster of paris, brussels and wilton carpets, valenciennes and chantilly lace, vandyke collar, valentine, philippic, socratic, herculean, guillotine, derby hat, gatling gun.

6. Punctuation:

Omit periods after nicknames: Tom, Sam, etc.

Always use a period between dollars and cents and after per cent., but never after c, s, and d, when they represent cents, shillings, and pence: $1.23, 10 per cent., 2s 6d.

Punctuate the votes in balloting thus: Yeas, 2; nays, 3.

Punctuate lists of names with the cities or states to which the individuals belong thus: Messrs. Smith of Illinois, Samson of West Virginia, etc. If the list contains more than three names, omit the "of" and punctuate thus: Smith, Illinois; Samson, West Virginia; etc. Where a number of names occurs with the office which they hold, use commas and semicolons, thus: J. S. Hall, governor; Henry Overstoltz, mayor; etc.

Never use a colon after viz., to wit, namely, e. g., etc., except when they end a paragraph. Use a colon, dash, or semicolon before them and commas after them, thus: This is the man; to wit, the victim.

"Such as" should follow a comma and have no point after it: "He saw many things, such as men, horses, etc."

Set lists of names thus without points:

Do not use a comma between a man's name and the title "Jr." or "Sr." as John Jones Jr.

Use the apostrophe to mark elision: I've, 'tis, don't, can't, won't, canst, couldst, dreamt, don'ts, won'ts, '80s.

Use the apostrophe in possessives and use it in the proper place: the boy's clothes, boys' clothes, Burns' poems, Fox's Martyrs, Agassiz's works, ours, yours, theirs, hers, its (but "it's" for it is). George and John's father was a good man; Jack's and Samuel's fathers were not.

Do not use the apostrophe when making a plural of figures, etc.: all the 3s, the Three Rs.

Do not use the apostrophe in Frisco, phone, varsity, bus.

Use an em dash after a man's name when placed at the beginning in reports of interviews, speeches, dialogues, etc.: John Jones—I have nothing to say. (No quotation marks.)

In a sentence containing words inclosed in parentheses, punctuate as if the part in parentheses were omitted: if there is any point put it after the last parenthesis.

Use brackets to set off any expression or remark thrown into a speech or quotation and not originally in it: "The Republican party is again in power—[cheers]—and is come to stay."

Use the conjunction "and" and a comma before the last name in a list of names, etc.: John, George, James, and Henry.

Use no commas in such expressions as 6 feet 3 inches tall, 3 years 6 months old, 2 yards 4 inches long.

Punctuate scores as follows: Wisconsin 8, Chicago 0.

Punctuate times in races, etc.: 100-yard dash—Smith, first; Jones, second. Time, 0:10 1-5.

Peters carried the ball thirty yards to the 10-yard line.

7. Date lines:

Punctuate date lines as follows:

MADISON, Wis., Jan. 25.—

Do not use the name of the state after the names of the larger cities of the country, such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle. Abbreviate the names of months which have more than five letters.

8. Quoting:

Quote all extracts and quotations set in the same type and style as the context, but do not quote extracts set in smaller type than the context or set solid in separate paragraphs in leaded matter.

Quote all dialogues and interviews, unless preceded by the name of the speaker or by "Question" and "Answer":

"I have nothing to say," answered Mr. Smith.
William Smith—I have nothing to say.
Question—Were you there?
Answer—I was.

Quote the names of novels, dramas, paintings, statuary, operas, and songs: "The Brass Bowl," "Il Trovatore."

Quote the subjects of addresses, lectures, sermons, toasts, mottoes, articles in newspapers: "The Great Northwest," "Our Interests."

Be sure to include "The" in the quotation of names of books, pictures, plays, etc.: "The Fire King"; not the "Fire King"; unless the article is not a part of the name.

Do not quote the names of theatrical companies, as Her Atonement Company.

Do not quote the names of characters in plays, as Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice."

Do not quote the names of newspapers. In editorials put "The Star" in italics, but in "The Kansas City Star" put "Star" in italics and use no quotation marks.

Do not quote the names of vessels, fire engines, balloons, horses, cattle, dogs, sleeping cars.

9. Compounds and Divisions:

Omit the hyphen when using an adverb compounded with -ly before a participle: a newly built house.

Use a hyphen after prefixes ending in a vowel (except bi and tri) when using them before a vowel: co-exist. When using such a prefix before a consonant do not use the hyphen except to distinguish the word from a word of the same letters but of different meaning: correspondent, but co-respondent (one called to answer a summons); recreation, but re-create (to create anew) reform, but re-form (to form again); re-enforced; biennial, etc.

Do not use the hyphen in the names of rooms when the prefix is of only one syllable: bedroom, courtroom, bathroom, etc. (except blue room, green room, etc.).

When the prefix is of more than one syllable use the hyphen. Follow the same rule in making compounds of house, shop, yard, maker, holder, keeper, builder, worker: shipbuilder, doorkeeper.

In dividing at the end of a line:
Do not run over a syllable of two letters.
Do not divide N. Y., M. P., LL. D., M. D., a. m., p. m., etc.
Do not divide figures thus: 1,-000,000; but thus 1,000,-000.
Do not divide a word of five letters or less.

10. Figures:

Use figures for numbers of a hundred or over, except when merely a large or indefinite number is intended: twenty-three, 123, about a thousand, a dollar, a million, millions, a thousand to one, from four to five hundred.

Use figures for numbers of less than 100 when they are used in connection with larger numbers: There were 33 boys and 156 girls; there were 106 last week and 16 this week.

Use figures for hours of the day: at 7 p. m.; at 8:30 this morning.

Use figures for days of the month: April 30, the 22nd of May.

Use figures for ages: he was 12 years old; little 2-year-old John. If the words "2-year-old John" begin a sentence or headline, spell out the age.

Use figures for dimensions, prices, degrees of temperature, per cents., dates, votes, times in races, scores in baseball, etc.: 3 feet long, $3 a yard, 76 degrees, Jan. 14, 1906. Time of race—2:27.

Use figures for all sums of money: $24, $5.06, 75 cents.

Use figures for street numbers: 1324 Grand avenue.

Use figures for numbered streets and avenues above 99th; spell out below 100th: 123 Twenty-third avenue, 10 East 126th street.

Use figures in statistical or tabular matter; never use ditto marks.

Use figures, period, and en quad for first, second, etc.: 1.—, 2.—.

Do not begin a sentence or paragraph with figures; supply a word if necessary or spell out: At 10 o'clock; Over 300 men.

Do not use the apostrophe to form plurals of figures: the 4s, rather than the 4's.

In all texts from the Bible set the chapters in Roman numerals and the verses in figures: Matt. xxii. 37-40; I. John v. 1-15. In Sunday school lessons say Verse 5.

Say three-quarters of 1 per cent.; not 3/4 of 1 per cent.

Set tenths, hundreds, etc., in decimals: 1.1; 2.03.

11. Abbreviations:

Abbreviate the following titles and no others, when they precede a name: Rev., Dr., Mme., Mlle., Mr., Mrs., Mgr. (Monsignore), M. (Monsieur).

Do not put Mr. before a name when the Christian
name is given except in society news and
editorials: Mr. Johnson; but Samuel L. Johnson.

Supply Mr. in all cases when Rev. is used without
the Christian name: Rev. Henry W. Beecher;
but Rev. Mr. Beecher.

Never use "Honorable" or the abbreviation
thereof except with foreign names, in editorials,
or in documents.

Abbreviate thus: Wash., Mont., S. D., N. D., Wyo., Cal., Wis., Colo., Ind., Id., Kan., Ariz., Okla., Me. Do not abbreviate Oregon, Iowa, Ohio, Utah, Alaska, or Texas.

Abbreviate thus: Madison, Dane County, Wis.: but Dane County, Wisconsin.

Use the abbreviations U. S. N. and U. S. A. after a proper name.

Y. M. C. A., W. C. T. U., M. E. are good abbreviations.

Abbreviate names of months when preceding date only when the month contains more than five letters: Jan. 20; but April 20. When the date precedes the month in reading matter spell it out: the 13th of January; the 26th inst.

Abbreviate "Number" before figures: No. 10.

Abbreviate contract, article, section, question, answer, after the first in bills, by-laws, testimony, etc.: Section 1., Sec. 2.; Question—, Answer—, Q.—, A.—.

Do not abbreviate railway, company, the names of streets, wards, avenues, districts, etc.: Madison Street Railway Company; State street, Monona avenue.

Street and avenue are sometimes abbreviated in want-ads: State-st, Monona-av.

Spell out numbered streets and avenues up to 100th: Thirty-fourth street, 134th street.

Use & in names of firms, but use the long "and" in names of railroads. Use Etc. and not &c.; use Brothers and not Bros. (except in ads); use & only when necessary to abbreviate in stocks.

Do not abbreviate the names of political parties except in election returns, then: Dem., Rep., Soc., Lab., Ind., Pro., Un. Cit.

Put in necessary commas in abbreviating railroad names: C., M. & St. P. Ry. (Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway); C., C., C. & St. L. R. R. (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad).

Abbreviate without periods in market review and quotations: 25c, bu, brls, tcs, pkgs, f o b, p t, etc. Spell out centimes except when given thus: 10f 20c.

Do not abbreviate Fort and Mount: Fort Wayne, Mount Vernon.

12. Preparation of Copy:

Use a typewriter or write legibly; some one must read your copy.

If you write with a typewriter, double or triple space your copy; never use single space.

Don't write on more than one side of the paper.

Leave sufficient margin for corrections and leave a space at the top of the first page for headlines; leave an inch at the top of each page.

Don't put more than one story on a single sheet of paper.

Don't trust the copy-reader to fill in blanks or to correct misspelled names. If you write by hand print out proper names as legibly as possible; underscore u and overscore n.

Don't assume that the copy-reader, the proofreader, or the editor will punctuate for you, or eliminate all superfluous punctuation.

Remember that uniformity is more to be desired than a strict following of style.

Don't turn in copy without re-reading carefully and verifying all names and addresses.

Use short paragraphs; always paragraph the lead separately; indent paragraphs distinctly.

Don't write over figures or words; scratch out and rewrite.

Number your pages; when pages are inserted use letters: pages 2, 3a, 3b, 4, 5.

A circle around an abbreviation or a figure indicates that the word or number is to be spelled out. A circle around a spelled-out word or number indicates that it is to be abbreviated or run in figures.

Mark the end of your story, thus: # # #

13. Don'ts:

Don't use "Honorable" or abbreviations thereof, except in extracts from speeches or documents, in editorials, or before foreign names.

Don't add final s to afterward, toward, upward, downward, backward, earthward, etc.

Don't use "signed" before the signature of a letter or document; run signature in caps.

Don't begin a sentence or paragraph with figures; insert a word before the figures or spell out.

Don't use commas in dates or in figures which denote the number of a thing, as A. D. 1908, 2324 State street, Policy 33815; in other cases use the comma, as $5,289; 1,236,400 people.

Don't forget that the following are singular and require singular verbs: sums of money, as $23 was invested; United States; anybody, everybody, somebody, neither, either, none; whereabouts, as "His whereabouts is known."

Don't forget that things OCCUR by chance or accident, and that things TAKE PLACE by arrangement.

Don't "sustain" broken legs and other injuries.

Don't "administer" punishment.

Don't confound "audiences," "spectators," and casual "witnesses."

Don't say "party" for "person."

Don't use "suicide," "loan," "scare," as verbs.

Don't use "gotten"; it is questionable; use "got."

Don't use "burglarize."

Don't use "transpire" for "occur."

Don't use "locate" for "find"; to locate a thing is to place it.

Don't use "stopped" for "stayed": He stayed at the Central Hotel.

Don't "tender" receptions nor "render" songs; use simply "give" and "sing."

Don't "put in an appearance"; just appear.

Don't use "don't" for "doesn't."

Don't use "stated" for "said."

Don't say "per day" or "per year," but "a day," "a year"; per is a Latin word and can be used only before a Latin noun, as "per diem" or "per annum."

Don't say "the meeting convened"; members might convene but a single body cannot.

Don't "claim that" anything is so; you can "claim" a thing, however.

Don't say "Mrs. Dr. Smith," just "Mrs. Smith."

Don't say "between" when more than two are mentioned.

Don't use "proven" for "proved."

Don't confound "staid" with "stayed."

Don't say "different than," but "different from."

Don't split infinitives or other verbs.

Don't use "onto."

Don't use "babe" or "tot" for "baby" or "child."

Don't use superlatives when you can help it.

Don't use trite expressions or foreign words and phrases.

Don't use "corner of" in designating street location.

Don't say "died from operation," but "died after operation"—to avoid danger of libel.

Don't get the very habit.

Don't use "couple of" instead of "two."

Don't use Mr. before a man's full name.

Don't use slang unless it is fitting—which is seldom.

Don't mention the reporters, singly or collectively, unless it is necessary. It rarely is.

Don't qualify the word "unique"; a thing may be "unique," but it cannot be "very unique," "quite unique," "rather unique," or "more unique."

Don't use the inverted passive: e. g., "A man was given a dinner," "Smith was awarded a medal."

Don't concoct long and improper titles: Justice of the Supreme Court Smith, Superintendent of the Insurance Department Jones, Groceryman Brown. If the title is long put it after the man's name; thus: George Smith, justice of the Supreme Court.

Don't use the verb "occur" with weddings, receptions, etc.; they take place by design and never unexpectedly.

Don't say "a number of," if you can help it. Be specific.

Don't use the word "lady" for "woman," or "gentleman" for "man."

Don't say "a man by the name of Smith," but "a man named Smith."

Don't use "depot" for "station"—railway passenger station.

Back to contents

APPENDIX I

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

These Suggestions for Study embody the method used in the course in News Story Writing in the Course in Journalism of the University of Wisconsin. The text of the several chapters corresponds to the lectures that are given in preparation for, and in connection with, the study of the various kinds of news stories. These Suggestions for Study correspond to the exercises by which the students learn the application of the principles embodied in the lectures. Hence these suggestions are given mainly from the instructor's point of view; however, a slight alteration will adapt them to home or individual study. Although they give very little practice in news gathering, they enable the student to gain practice in the writing of news—in accordance with the purpose of this book. The reporter who is studying the business in a newspaper office may use them to advantage in connection with his regular work.

EXERCISES FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER

1. Collect clippings of representative news stories, printed in the daily papers, to be used as models.
2. Keep a book of tips of expected news in your town or city.
3. Study news stories in your local paper and try to determine from what source the original news tip came. Try to discover from the story the routine of news gathering which furnished the facts.
4. In the same stories try to determine what persons were interviewed; frame the questions that the reporter might have asked to secure the facts. The instructor may impersonate various persons in a given news story and have the students interview him for the facts; this is to assist the student in learning to keep the point of view and to keep him from asking ridiculous questions.
5. Try to discover what stories in any newspaper are the result of actual reporting by staff reporters—point out where the others come from.
6. Notice the date line on stories that come from the outside, and learn its form.

EXERCISES FOR THE SECOND CHAPTER

1. Watch for local stories that seem to be worth sending out; determine what element in them makes them worth sending out; calculate how far from their source they would be worth printing.
2. Study the news value of stories that are printed in the local papers; determine why they were printed. Look for the same things in stories with date lines in the local papers.
3. Determine what class of readers any given news story would interest.
4. Notice the time element (timeliness) in newspaper stories.
5. Try to determine the radius of your local paper's personal news sources: how near the printing office one must live to be worth personal mention.
6. Watch for local stories whose news value depends upon the death element, upon a prominent name, a significant loss of property, mere unusualness, human interest, or personal appeal; see what the local papers do with these stories and whether the local correspondents send them out.
7. Analyze the nature of the personal appeal in stories that are printed only for their personal appeal.
8. Notice how local reasons change the news values of local stories.
9. In any or all of these stories determine what the feature is. Distinguish between the fundamental incident which the story reports and the additional significant feature which enhances the news value of the fundamental incident.

EXERCISES FOR THE THIRD CHAPTER

1. Run over the Style Book at the end of this book; note the essential points in newspaper style.
2. Give the principal rules for the preparation of copy.
3. Glance over the "Don'ts" in the Style Book.

EXERCISES FOR THE FOURTH CHAPTER

1. Study the form and construction of news stories, especially simple fire stories.
2. Pick out the feature of each story—the additional incident in the story which increases the news value of the story itself—and see if the striking feature has been played up to best advantage.
3. Notice how the reader's customary questions—what, where, when, who, how, and why—are answered in the lead. Make a list of the answers in any given story.

EXERCISES FOR THE FIFTH CHAPTER

1. Collect good fire stories appearing in the newspapers. Study the construction of the lead and the order in which the facts are presented in the body of each story.
2. Write the leads of fire stories. The chances are that actual fires will seldom occur at the time when the student wishes to study the writing of fire stories, but the instructor may give his class, orally or in writing, the facts of a fire story. He may use imaginary facts or he may take the facts from a story clipped from a newspaper—the latter method is better because it enables the instructor to show the students, after they have written their stories, just how the original story was written in the newspaper office. The facts should be given in the order in which a reporter would probably secure them in actual reporting so that the student may learn to sort and arrange the facts that he wishes to use, and to select the feature. The instructor may even impersonate different persons connected with the story and have the class interview him for the facts. This method is to be followed throughout the whole study of news story writing. (In individual study, practice may be secured from writing up imaginary or real facts.)
3. In these first fire stories, use fires that have no interest beyond the interest in the fire itself—that is, no feature. Begin the story with "Fire" and devote the lead to answering the reader's customary questions.
4. Look for newspaper fire stories that are not correctly written and reconstruct the lead according to the logic of the fire lead. That is, strive for conciseness and cut out details that do not properly belong in the lead.
5. Make a list of the reader's customary questions concerning any fire and write out the briefest possible answers. Then construct a lead to embody these answers. Determine which answer should come first and which last, according to importance.
6. Write the bodies of some of these stories. First list the facts that are to be presented and determine the order of their importance.
7. Emphasize the separateness and completeness of the two parts of the story—the lead and the body of the story. Test the leads to see if they would be clear in themselves without further explanation.
8. Strive for brevity, conciseness and clearness; wage war on all attempts at fine writing.

EXERCISES FOR THE SIXTH CHAPTER

1. Study fire stories which have features—an interest beyond the mere fire itself—and see how the newspapers write them.
2. In a feature fire story of Class I., make a list of the reader's customary questions concerning the fire, as if it were a simple fire story, and a list of the answers. See if any answer is more interesting than the fire itself, or if its presence makes the story more interesting. Show that such an answer is the feature.
3. Write fire stories with features in some one of the reader's customary answers. (Class I.)
4. Study a simple fire story and try to imagine what things—properly answers to the reader's customary questions—might happen to give the fire greater news value. This will show the student how to look for the feature of a story.
5. Write the lead of any fire story in as many different ways as possible, striving in each one to play up the same feature.
6. Study a simple fire story and try to imagine what unexpected things might occur in connection with the fire which would be of greater interest than the fire itself. Show that these would be features and that they do not fall within the answers to the reader's customary questions—i. e., they are unexpected.
7. Write fire stories with features in unexpected attendant circumstances.
8. Make up lists of dead and injured; notice how the newspapers arrange and punctuate these lists.
9. Study fire stories with more than one feature. Work out the possibilities in any given fire along these lines.
10. Write fire stories in which there is more than one feature worth a place in the lead. Try various combinations in the lead to discover the happiest arrangement. Show how one of many striking features may be of so much importance as to drive the other features entirely out of the lead.

EXERCISES FOR THE SEVENTH CHAPTER

1. Count the number of words in the sentences and paragraphs of representative newspaper stories.
2. Practice writing fire leads that might be printed alone without the rest of the story.
3. Take a fire lead and experiment with various beginnings to show the possibilities:
   • a. Noun—experiment with and without articles.
   • b. Infinitive—Distinguish infinitives in "to" and in "-ing."
   • c. That clause.
   • d. Prepositional phrase.
   • e. Temporal clause.
   • f. Causal clause.
   • g. Others.
   Show that any of these beginnings may be used in the playing up of any one feature.
4. Study how a name may overshadow an interesting story; determine when a name is worth first place in a lead. Study the practice of representative papers in this—do not hesitate to show how a paper has been illogical in beginning certain stories with an unknown name, for everything one sees in a newspaper is not ipso facto good usage in newspaper writing.
5. In students' stories, notice what the principal verb says and point out any misplaced emphasis.
6. Wage war on "was the unusual experience of" and "was the fate of" in leads.
7. Try to avoid "broke out" in fire leads. Devote the space to more interesting action.
8. Cut out all useless words in students' exercises; strive for brevity. Go through a student's story and weigh the value of each word, phrase, and sentence; cut out the useless ones or try to express them more briefly. Do the same to actual newspaper stories.
9. Weigh the value of every detail introduced into a lead and cut out the unnecessary ones; relegate them to the rest of the story.
10. Wage war on all meaningless generalities; demand exactness.
11. Refer the class to the Style Book in this volume and require them to follow a uniform style. Point out the differences in style of various papers.
12. See if the bodies of students' stories mean anything without the presence of the leads. Require the body of the story to be separate and complete in itself. This need not, of course, be carried to the point of repeating addresses given in the lead.
13. Try writing a story by simply elaborating and explaining the details mentioned in the lead of the story. Determine what facts must be added.
14. See if any story can stand the loss of its last paragraph. Determine how many paragraphs it can lose without sacrificing its interest.
15. In writing the body of a fire story, list the facts that are to be told, in their logical order; thus: origin, discovery, spread, death of firemen, escapes, injuries, rescues, explosion, extinguishing of fire. Number them in the order of their importance. Try to build a story out of these by following the logical order and at the same time crowding the most interesting facts to the beginning.
16. Practice getting the facts of a story by means of interviews. The instructor may have the students determine what persons they wish to interview for the facts and the instructor may impersonate these persons in turn. The class may then write the story from the facts gained in this way without reference to the interviews. This is for selecting and arranging facts in their logical order.
17. Practice the use of dialogue in stories. Judge its effectiveness and show that in most cases it is well to avoid dialogue.
18. Practice rewriting long stories into short press dispatches of 150 words or less, considering the different news value.

EXERCISES FOR THE EIGHTH CHAPTER

1. Collect clippings of other kinds of news stories.
2. In writing these other stories use the fire story as a model; the facts may be presented as they were in the fire story.
3. Study the possible features in accident stories; write accident stories with various features; make lists of dead and injured.
4. Study and write robbery stories with various features; distinguish between the various names applied to robbery and to the people who rob.
5. Study and write murder and suicide stories with various features, striving in each case to give the facts without shocking the reader. Show how the featureless murder or suicide story is very much like a featureless fire story.
6. Study and write riot, storm, flood, and other big stories.
7. In the study of police court news have the class go to the local police courts and report actual cases.
8. Send the students to report meetings. Report conferences, decisions, etc. Insist that the story begin with the gist of the report in each case and never with explanations.
9. Write stories on bulletins, catalogues, city directories, etc. Study them with reference to their timeliness and try to discover what in them has the most news value. Require the student to begin with this element of news value and to give the source (the name and date of the bulletin, etc.) in the lead.
10. Look over the daily papers and pick out news stories which bury the gist of their news and have the students rewrite the leads to play up the real news or to give greater emphasis to buried features.

EXERCISES FOR THE NINTH CHAPTER

1. Collect good examples of the follow-up and the rewrite story; follow one important story through several days' editions to see how it is rewritten day by day. Examine an afternoon paper's version of a story covered in a morning paper.
2. Take any news story and work out the follow-up possibilities; imagine what the next step in the story will be.
3. On this basis, write follow-up stories and rewrite stories.
4. Write a follow-up story which, while beginning with a new feature, retells the original story.
5. Study and write follow-up stories involving fires, accidents, robberies, murders, suicides, storms (present condition), etc.

EXERCISES FOR THE TENTH CHAPTER

1. Collect good examples of speech reports.
2. Take notes on oral speeches and write reports of varying lengths. Practice taking notes in the proper way and write the report at once—perhaps as an impromptu in class. The instructor may send his students to public lectures or read representative speeches to them in class.
3. Write reports of speeches from printed copies of the speech; that is, edit them in condensed form.
4. Take one lead and experiment with different beginnings, playing up the same idea in each case.
5. Discuss speeches to determine the newsiest and timeliest thing in the speech—the statement to be played up in the lead.
6. In the body of the report try to use as much direct quotation as possible, use complete sentence quotations, do not mix quotation and summary in the same paragraph or sentence. Study the rules regarding the use of quotation marks.
7. Have the students write running reports of speeches—that is, have them write their report as they listen to the speech and submit their report in this form. Naturally the lead must be written later.

EXERCISES FOR THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER

1. Collect representative interview stories.
2. Have students interview various people without the aid of a note book; have them bring back quoted statements by the use of their memory. Have them interview some one who will criticize their manner and method.
3. Have a definite reason or timeliness for every interview—have the student map out a definite campaign beforehand. Try writing out the questions beforehand in shape to fill in the answers.
4. Write interview stories from the results of these attempts.
5. Begin the same interview story in various ways.
6. Write an interview story in which the feature is a denial or a refusal to speak; tell what should have been said and what the denial or refusal signifies.
7. Study the form of the body of the report (see Speech Reports).
8. Write stories which are the result of several interviews on the same subject; arrange them informally and formally.

EXERCISES FOR THE TWELFTH CHAPTER

1. Collect examples of good court reports.
2. Attend and report actual cases in the local courts (preferably civil courts).
3. Determine what is the most interesting thing in each.
4. From this, write court reports—reports of the cases which the students have heard.
5. Experiment with the various beginnings for the same report.
6. Try summarizing a case in one paragraph.
7. Practice getting down testimony verbatim.
8. Practice summarizing testimony in indirect form.
9. Practice writing out the testimony in full in the various ways.
10. Write testimony with action in it for the sake of human interest.
11. Show how all of these may be combined into one good court report.

EXERCISES FOR THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Notice how various newspapers treat social news; study the reason in each case; collect examples.
2. List the facts of a wedding story; write short and long wedding stories.
3. Write wedding announcements, beginning in various ways.
4. Write engagement announcements.
5. Write up receptions, banquets, dinners, etc.; report actual functions.
6. Write announcements for the same functions.
7. Write up some unusual social story as a news story.
8. Practice writing obituaries and simple death stories with accompanying obituary. Write sketches of the lives of prominent people.
9. In these exercises use actual events as subjects.

EXERCISES FOR THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Study sporting stories for their material and method.
2. Report a football game or some other sporting event.
3. Make a running account of a football or baseball game.
4. Write a brief summary of the game to be sent out as a dispatch, limiting it to 150 words.
5. Write up the same game in 200-300 words; attach a condensed running account of the same length.
6. Write a long story of the same game, following the outline given in the text; attach a detailed running account by periods or innings; compile tables of players and results for the end.
7. The study of sporting news may be taken out of its logical place and studied during the baseball or football season.

EXERCISES FOR THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Collect human interest and newspaper feature stories.
2. Watch for material for human interest stories; look at the facts in your other news stories in a sympathetic way and see how they could be made into human interest stories.
3. Write human interest stories on facts given by the instructor and on facts discovered by the students.
4. Write animal stories, and witty comments on the weather.
5. Write up some timely local subject as a 1500-word feature story.

EXERCISES FOR THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Gather good theatrical reports and watch for those in which the whole report is written around a single idea.
2. At the theater watch for things to comment on; try to bring away one definite idea about the play—with illustrations.
3. Write dramatic criticisms that are the embodiment of a single idea or criticism on the play.
4. Try to point out the bad things in a play without being bitter or personal.
5. Write a half-column of copy on a vaudeville show, supposing that the copy is paid for and must praise, not only the show as a whole, but each individual act.

EXERCISES FOR THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Notice the form and punctuation of the date line: MADISON, Wis., Feb. 29.—
2. Notice the writing of street addresses: 234 Grand avenue, 4167 Twenty-sixth street; 3857 138th street; (without "at").
3. Notice in the use of figures—sums of money, hours of day, ages, figures at the beginning of sentence.
4. Notice use of titles; use of Mr. before a man's name—always give a man's initials or first name the first time you mention it in any story.

Back to contents