The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1883-09-05
WRITING FOR THE NEWSPAPER

: ~ scrubbed this Oh in II hurry. vo,
can correct any errors" Every re
vising editor is familiar with thu
, phrase, or some one or more Of it
unwelcome kindred. 1t comes man,
times to every hard worked cditora
table, and goes very often into ever,
voracious waste paper. basket. |, il
a PHRASE much affected by thos,
who do not write frequently for the
newspapers. aud with these it is gen
orally not true, for they stake pains
when the more practiced writer doe.
not.
1t may no. be without profit i,
make, a few comments this morning
'n the snhjec, OF ."writing for the
newspapers" Let MS 81, first, that
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. letters, men,
nran'ia. and the hrief"r the better, a.
a general ru|e--on all atf,ir- that in
:erest the general pubic, or any con
siderable section of it, is always vel
come at this nf11:'r; and we think
his is true of newspaper offices
generally. Such communications
re among the ways hy which the
pulse heats Of the public can he felt,
or their thoughts and wishes can he
learned. After assuming that the
writerahas something TO write. ahoul
that It would he we'll to Law htfnre
the public, and that she o. he is fair
v able TO write 1t in an ordinary
English and in fair temper, then a
great essential is that the communi
cation shall he written in plain.
easily readable hand. This is very
desirable for several reasons; first to
save the time OF the editor. his feye>
and his patience, for all are severely
taxed; second, to help the compost
tors aud proof readers or their ewes
and time are severely taxed likewise;
third, for the sake of the writer, for
that person can hardly fell com !orta
HE unless his production is rpasona.
hly free from blemishes aud "looks
well in print" II what is written
has meaning and force the writer
loes not want its meaning obscurea
"r possibly reversed. lobe reason
ably secure as to all these matters
the writing should be plain-easy to
read. Otherwise it may be hard
reading all round, and tina, kird Of
writing is rarely welcome, either in
the newspaper office or before the
public. One OF tIeYmost surprising
things in the world is that there are
persons who give evidence Of ca.
racity TO write we'll, yet in some por.:
tions Of their productions write exc
crably, but in punctuation and an
lswkward structure Of sentenaces. It
would seem that punctna,ion-at
least such passab!y correct punctua-.
| tiOn as would leave no doubt as to
the meaning of the wriicr--woni
come as natural as to cross at or
tot an /. especially to one who has
read much. And vet many persons
Of fair education and who a e good
tiers seem to have no conception
Of the simplest rules of punctuation.
In card playing there is general rule
That "when you are in donbt lead
trups." Tie class Of writers refer
Ire': to seem to amply the rule 10
punctna,inn. When thew are in
'""ht they stick in comma or a
lash. and sometimes two parallel
'ashes, when there il no such siun
known to the art. How is a printe,
IN know what the writer means anil
.hat he is i05s,10 when he comes
across these signs, put i'm thick a. q,
p-rk>2
is not III he understood thu, Gle
CANT Or ornamental penmansbil, is
H. thing desired, for some OF tina, is
| mo>t diff ult To de- iphrr, herause nt
he furnishes and |ahvrin,hinq tan
2les of the letters. The Ie. i,lerstum
is plainness, ready readihli'y--and
this comes most frequently from
those who are not elegant penman.
because of the absence of what are
meant to he decorative fou,ishes.
A. to the practiced writer's, who
''scribhle few lines in hurry"
they are Of sundry kinds: those who
can write lesihle hands if they
choose, hut do not; those who think
it a mark of genius to write as had
a hand as Horace Greeley; those
who, in addition TO obscure penman.
ship, quote foreign languages and
write long, intricate and involved
sentences; and those who assume
that all will be put right by the edi-
tors, printers and proof readers any
how. All these sin with knowledge
It is not good practice in any one