The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-05-26
uo.v RI Write for the Farmer
q ~ LIZ.

How to Write for the FaI'Hcf
} q Acc.1i.iic.
Successful journalism, in the present
age. NAV be summed In a sentence, 10
wit: A full epitomen of passing news a
vigorous but pithy discussion OF current
topic. bold bit honest advocacy OF the
best interests of the people; ana care1ui
selection of Family Reading. Merc
filling up oi a paper Is not edlting,
aud the public soon find 1t out Every
inch nf tyne should b.. "il'r: that IS
eirhe. entertaining or ~lu>truc'l.c.
old st, Ie. which rendered The utle OF a
'.News Paper a missioner, since the
old .t,le journals We're mere tracts,
filled with pro>y speeches. or long
..essay. has gone Down among the
Dead Men" People nowadays buy
News PAPERS for Nelcs and buy Books
or Pamphlets or Periodicals for Wees
Hence the chances are that among
journalists the best writer Is the poorest
Editor. We know one or two elegant
writer. who always fail as Journalists:
becau.c they icrite instead OF "edt.
Mere ,erary style, ~eloquence, rounded
periods. glittering metaphors, and the
other ~components of what Is called line
writing. are out Of place IN the mod
ern Newspaper. They take up space
and crowd out news, OF commuillca-
tion..
Plain facts, plainly painted strong
statements strongly stated vigorous
views I~leasingly, or powerfully, or pro
foundly, pleaded These be the needs
Of Journalism OF To day.
Dropping from generalltles to par
ticularilies, we remark that the Fdrm'r
and NccHuntc is per force obliged 10
boil down its articles to the very marrow
Of the subject in order to find room for
the variety of topics and items indispen-
sable in a paper which has subscribers
literally at nearly every Office from Cur
rituck to Cherokee, or FROM Bakersvllle
to Beaufort. Lack of size, lack OF type,
lack Of printers, lack of money re
strain its enterprise, and oblige it to
pass over many things which a wide
awake newspaper ought to seek. The
same reasons restrain the Editor In
many respects, keeping him chained
to his desk instead of permitting that
perpetual circulating around" which
is requisite to catch a glimpse Of current
intelligence, and study the phases o.
passing life.
Still as Paddy advised-''Ii' you can't
do ony Bother, faith an what's beIher
thin dom the best you CAM So az
we desire to make our paper Interesting
and Useful, and as we know that hun
dreds of our friends in all parts OF the
State would write for it, If they were
not over difident about their OWL pow
ers of composition, and perhaps not
aware Of the style Of letter we desire,
the following suggestions are sugge ted:
lst. Take some thin sheets Of paper,
(the thinner the better, as We have to
pay SIS or $40 a year on due letters,
cut the pages apart and number them,
|, y, 3, etc.
2nd. Take a strip and jotdown all the
little items you heard at your neigh
bors, or at church, or school Has any
accident happened? Anybody robbed?
Any other crime? Anybody burnt out?
Anybody dead or married? Anything
going to happen soon, such as pubic
meeting, church festivals, sales, new
houses? Any new factories going up !?
Has any public officer been changed?
Any new mineral been discovered?
Sd. Add to these your own Ohserva-
tions. Are crops looking well? Are
people improving? Is the county fill
ing up? Has anybody succeeded with
a new experiment z Is there any old
relic in the vicinity
18th. If there be need for speaking
plainly in respect to some o~tfense, or
folly, or wrong write your views as
briefly as possible, and quote the opin
ions Of your neighbors so that the Ed
tor may judge whether there is good
ground to print it, or whether it had
best be omitted. If you don't care to
name the persons at any rate give their
names in your private note to the Edi-
tor. He never betrays office secrets.
9Th. After you have jotted down your
notes, arrange them as you want them
to come, and copy them neatly on the
numbered sheets of paper. IN. B.
Our printers can read anything from
Dutch to Dog Latin, but 10 giving
names of men or places, be sure and
spell them out plainly If your letter
Is bulky, cut a notch in the ends SO that
curious folks can see there are mt any
greenbacks in it.
Finally, do not be discouraged if your
letter Is not printed. The paper may
be crowded. or there may be some rea-
son for not printing that particular let
ter. Send another the very eek week.
We sometimes hold an article TWO or
three months because we want to use it
on a special occasion.
HOW TO Boil 1T DOWN.
A word about the style of your let
terS All manpar nf Etoror, .sAo,l
es' are GU of place. Send your 'es-
says" to the magazines, or literary pa
pers. What We want are healthy and
w~ide-awake Facts" stripped to the
skin. Every surplus word in a news
paper is a dead loss; for it requires
time, type, printer s-muscle, paper, ink,
and postage, wtthout adding a particle
to the interest or caiue Of the popert
Think of that
Now to illustrate the different styles
OF writing, we will give, first. a speci-
men OF the style we don't want, and
then the style that we do wish.
STYLE NUMBER ONE.
=" hcendidrism Rampant IN Wake
"County = The Fire, Fiend Parsuing
has Deriltsh Deeds IN Ramkaue Torn
'shtp DGrent Destruction of P,irate
"Property. -Reosons for Beliering that
tile Perpetrafor rs Under Suspicion =
1T is with exceeding regret that it be-
comes our painful duty as an OCCASION
al chronicler of current Intelligence
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