Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 September 1879 — HOW AND WHAT TO WRITE. [ARTICLE]

HOW AND WHAT TO WRITE.

Write the proper names plainly. Never wrangle or dispute in print with anybody. • , Bo brief in statements; sparing in comments. . Write with ink; never with pencil unless unavoidable. .Don’t attempt fine writing; it is news that is wanted, not style. Short ilpms and lots of them are what pleases the editor and reader. Be pointed; don’t write all around a sub* ject without hitting it. When you have nothing to say stop. Never mind filling out the page. Paragraph whenever a change of the subject occurs, and in no other place. Don’t puff; if an advertisement is worth anything, it is worth paying for. Eschew preface, plunge into the subject at once. State facts; don’t moralize. Write only on one side of the sheet, as the copy has oftimes to be divided among several compositors. Don’t say eve for evening, scholar for pupil, pants for pantaloons, gents for gentlemen, or Sabbath for Sunday. <• Avoid unpleasant personalities, and never send an item the force of which is understood only by yourself and a few others. Don’t be afraid of making your communications too brief. From two to three columns of matter has to ho left out every week. You can keep the authorship as nearly a secret from the public as you please, indeed, nobody needs know you write for the newspaper, unless you choose to let them know it yourself. The editor won't tell—rely upon that.—[Ex.