Friday, July 31, 2009
Ghostwriting teleclass
You might check out a 90-minute Ghostwriting Teleclass sponsored by NAIWE. It's at http://tinyurl.com/nj3k8c.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Desk set
It's been a slow night so far on the sports copy desk, but it'll pick up.
So far, I've started the golf and National League roundups, and I have edited a local story on Modified racing and a wire story on Darlington Raceway cutting ticket prices for its 2010 race. Four of my baseball games are already in, but I won't get the other three until 10:30 or 11.
The highlight to this point came when I wrote the cutline (you call it a caption) for the picture that went with the Modified story. The information said that the photo was taken at Concord (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It's Concord Speedway, so I fixed it; it pays to be a former auto-racing writer.
Here's one thing I do: If I do a golf story, I try to edit all of the golf stories. That means I can find inconsistencies in any of the stories, and we can finish that page a bit sooner. Why mention that? I just edited two NFL stories.
Tiger Woods struggled Thursday in the Buick Open. If Tiger doesn't make the cut -- he missed the cut in the British Open -- you might have a good headline. How about "Tiger wrecks in Buick"?
I struggled to write a headline on David Ortiz being named among the positive drug tests. You can't be too cute with a headline like that.
One of my headlines actually said Gal leads women. It turns out that Gal is her last name, and she's a German. Her name is probably pronounced Gol, but the head looks redundant.
I'm missing one game for the NL roundup. The Cardinals and Dodgers are in the 10th inning, tied at 3.
More later.
So far, I've started the golf and National League roundups, and I have edited a local story on Modified racing and a wire story on Darlington Raceway cutting ticket prices for its 2010 race. Four of my baseball games are already in, but I won't get the other three until 10:30 or 11.
The highlight to this point came when I wrote the cutline (you call it a caption) for the picture that went with the Modified story. The information said that the photo was taken at Concord (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It's Concord Speedway, so I fixed it; it pays to be a former auto-racing writer.
Here's one thing I do: If I do a golf story, I try to edit all of the golf stories. That means I can find inconsistencies in any of the stories, and we can finish that page a bit sooner. Why mention that? I just edited two NFL stories.
Tiger Woods struggled Thursday in the Buick Open. If Tiger doesn't make the cut -- he missed the cut in the British Open -- you might have a good headline. How about "Tiger wrecks in Buick"?
I struggled to write a headline on David Ortiz being named among the positive drug tests. You can't be too cute with a headline like that.
One of my headlines actually said Gal leads women. It turns out that Gal is her last name, and she's a German. Her name is probably pronounced Gol, but the head looks redundant.
I'm missing one game for the NL roundup. The Cardinals and Dodgers are in the 10th inning, tied at 3.
More later.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Squash and quash
Smash it: Today, I've seen stories that used squashed and quashed, and they were used to mean the same thing. They don't.
I first came across quashed more than 20 years ago when I was working at the newspaper in Wilmington, N.C. A sports writer wrote that someone quashed an idea, and we were all aflutter. We'd never heard of quashed, and we all ran to the dictionary.
You can see that quash and squash are from the same root. (And that has nothing to do with the vegetable, yuck, yuck, yuck.)
It's like the difference between flounder and founder. Squash and quash both have their uses. You squash a bug and quash a bill in Congress.
Greetings: Welcome to the followers of this blog. I hope this is worth your time.
I first came across quashed more than 20 years ago when I was working at the newspaper in Wilmington, N.C. A sports writer wrote that someone quashed an idea, and we were all aflutter. We'd never heard of quashed, and we all ran to the dictionary.
quash 1 (kwsh)
tr.v. quashed, quash·ing, quash·es
To set aside or annul, especially by judicial action.
[Middle English quassen, from Old French casser, quasser, from Medieval Latin quassre, alteration (influenced by quassre, to shatter) of cassre, from Latin cassus, empty, void; see kes- in Indo-European roots.]
quash 2 (kwsh)
tr.v. quashed, quash·ing, quash·es
To put down or suppress forcibly and completely: quash a rebellion.
[Middle English quashen, from Old French quasser, from Medieval Latin quassre, to shatter, from Latin; see squash2.]
You can see that quash and squash are from the same root. (And that has nothing to do with the vegetable, yuck, yuck, yuck.)
squash 2 (skwsh, skwôsh)
v. squashed, squash·ing, squash·es
v.tr.
1. To beat, squeeze, or press into a pulp or a flattened mass; crush. See Synonyms at crush.
2. To put down or suppress; quash: squash a revolt.
3. To silence or fluster, as with crushing words: squash a heckler.
v.intr.
1. To become crushed, flattened, or pulpy, as by pressure or impact.
2. To move with a splashing or sucking sound, as when walking through boggy ground.
n.
1.
a. The act or sound of squashing.
b. The fact or condition of being squashed.
2. A crushed or crowded mass: a squash of people.
3. Sports A racket game played in a closed walled court with a rubber ball.
4. Chiefly British A citrus-based soft drink.
adv.
With a squashing sound.
[Middle English squachen, from Old French esquasser, from Vulgar Latin *exquassre : Latin ex-, intensive pref.; see ex- + Latin quassre, to shatter, frequentative of quatere, to shake; see kwt- in Indo-European roots.]
squasher n.
It's like the difference between flounder and founder. Squash and quash both have their uses. You squash a bug and quash a bill in Congress.
Greetings: Welcome to the followers of this blog. I hope this is worth your time.
More editing/writing blog entries
Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Not so nice
Words of the day: I was just reading an Internet story about someone's intemperate behavior. First, I see the word temper in there. And, from context, I could tell that the man was angry and verbally abusive, but I decided to look it up.
... I just used the word dissect — I said that everyone dissects what the president says; yes, I was talking about the Harvard professor — so I decided to look it up.
Blogs to watch: If you're into poetry, you might check out Diane Lockward's blog. She calls it Blogalicious. ... Here's Angela Booth's blog on finding inspiration.
intemperateYes, I think that's close to what I thought it was.
Adjective
1. unrestrained or uncontrolled: intemperate remarks
2. drinking alcohol too much or too often
3. extreme or severe: an intemperate climate
... I just used the word dissect — I said that everyone dissects what the president says; yes, I was talking about the Harvard professor — so I decided to look it up.
dis·sect (d-skt, d-, dskt)
tr.v. dis·sect·ed, dis·sect·ing, dis·sects
1. To cut apart or separate (tissue), especially for anatomical study.
2. To examine, analyze, or criticize in minute detail: dissected the plan afterward to learn why it had failed. See Synonyms at analyze.
[Latin dissecre, dissect-, to cut apart : dis-, dis- + secre, to cut up; see sek- in Indo-European roots.]
Blogs to watch: If you're into poetry, you might check out Diane Lockward's blog. She calls it Blogalicious. ... Here's Angela Booth's blog on finding inspiration.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Don't matter, bro
Nothing matters: The idea of nihilism has always interested me. I don't believe in it, but some people do.
Dialogue: I'm editing a book that doesn't have dialogue. The book reads pretty well otherwise. But it's easier to read a book with dialogue, whether it's fiction or non-fiction.
NihilismKeeping records: I just got a press release saying that so-and-so just set a new record at Somewhere Speedway. All newsmen cringe when they hear that. You can't set an old record; it has to be a new one.
(from the Latin nihil, nothing) is the philosophical doctrine suggesting that values do not exist but rather are falsely invented. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life[1] is without meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.
Dialogue: I'm editing a book that doesn't have dialogue. The book reads pretty well otherwise. But it's easier to read a book with dialogue, whether it's fiction or non-fiction.
More editing/writing blog entries from Tom Gillispie
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Things to write about
Word for the day: I just encountered the word obstreperous, one I'd heard before, but I'd never looked up the meaning. According to the online dictionary:
It's English, right? Last month, I did a blog on the differences between U.S. and U.K. English, and I received this comment: And then there is Kiwi English which is another beast again. Even near neighbours like Australians and New Zealanders use English differently. A thong here is underwear - in Australia they're a pair of jandals that you were on your feet. Kiwi English is nearer to British English than it is to either Australian or American English but we have the added advantage of a plethora of Maori words which have come into common usage. I find the divisions of a common language fascinating. Variations in vocabulary and meaning can be an excellent ice breaker in introducing the differences between cultures that on the surface may look very similar but are subtly and often not insubstantially different.
Grammar vs. grammar: You might check out the discussion of grammar in Headsup: The Blog. The writer goes into a lot of detail.
Obstreperous -That'll get you arrested in most places.
- noisy: noisily and aggressively boisterous
- unruly: strongly objecting to something or noisily refusing to be controlled.
It's English, right? Last month, I did a blog on the differences between U.S. and U.K. English, and I received this comment: And then there is Kiwi English which is another beast again. Even near neighbours like Australians and New Zealanders use English differently. A thong here is underwear - in Australia they're a pair of jandals that you were on your feet. Kiwi English is nearer to British English than it is to either Australian or American English but we have the added advantage of a plethora of Maori words which have come into common usage. I find the divisions of a common language fascinating. Variations in vocabulary and meaning can be an excellent ice breaker in introducing the differences between cultures that on the surface may look very similar but are subtly and often not insubstantially different.
Grammar vs. grammar: You might check out the discussion of grammar in Headsup: The Blog. The writer goes into a lot of detail.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Continuing education
I had my eyes opened again when I worked last fall at the tiny Surry Messenger in Mount Airy, N.C. The Messenger had an interesting "birth" the year before. Two Surry County newspapers, the Mount Airy News and the Elkin Tribune, were being bought out, and more than a dozen people from those papers left and formed the Messenger.
While the Mount Airy News is sold on racks, the Messenger is free distribution. They were thinking of dropping their Monday paper and instead going on Sundays. And while the weekday papers are distributed just in the Mount Airy area, the Sunday paper covers all of Surry County (except for homes that are almost inaccessible from the road, but that's a different story).
I was cocky for my second interview with the boss, Rebel Good. I'd worked at seven newspapers, including two in the 100,000 range. This paper was barely 11,000. I had forgotten that reporters at major newspapers rarely, if ever, help put the paper out. Copy editors rarely take pictures, and many don't lay out pages. This was a tiny paper, and, generally, everyone has to do everything.
I was hired to help them with the Sunday paper, and I did everything. Rebel didn't spare me. My first weekend, I did a story on gas wars in Mount Airy; later that Friday, I covered a game for Mount Airy High School.
Rebel sent me to take a picture of a McDonald's that was being razed and rebuilt; to write a story on a day-long power outage in Dobson, the county seat; to write a sports story on a local middle school that was hosting its first home football game, and to take pictures of the winning window display in a local festival.
He had me lay out the editorial page and to help the sports editor with whatever he needed. I'd wanted to write all of my career -- 29 years at that point -- and I wrote more stories in the first month than I'd written in either of the previous 10 years.
Then the sports editor quit and I took his place; and I got busier. I cranked out five sports sections a week with no regular helper. One of my co-workers, Brook, was a huge help on Fridays during high school playoffs. But I still had to write two to four stories that night and lay out the section. Once, I left at 6 p.m. for the game, and I didn't finish until six a.m. No, that's not a typo.
It was hard work, but I reveled in it. I was working at a daily newspaper with a weekly flavor. I always tell young journalists to take a job at a weekly or a small daily; you'll have to learn everything, and you'll be better off in the long run.
On Dec. 13, 2008, I drove to Raleigh, N.C., to cover Mount Airy High School playing in the state Class A championship game. I had to take first-half pictures and email them back to the paper. Then I went back on the field, watched the last third of the game, took notes, took more pictures, interviewed coaches and players. My column from that game, in which I basically just told what I saw, was probably the best thing I wrote for the Messenger.
The biggest problem I had is that I had no wire. If I had a slow news day, I still had to find stories or pictures to fill the section. The last week of the year, around Christmas and New Year's, was a terrible time for sports news, and that's when I planned to run the all-county football team and a feature on the Elkin High School fencing team.
I'd just finished my six-page section on Friday, Jan. 2 when Rebel grabbed the page proofs and called me into his office. For four months, I'd worried every time he called me in the office, afraid he'd fire me for some little screw up. This time, he sat me down, said they were cutting back on sports coverage and letting me go.
I was stunned, naturally. I knew the paper was cutting back to three days a week because of the economic downturn, but I'd been busy; I hadn't had time that week to worry about my job.
It was a part of my continuing education, of course. I was reminded that, even if you've worked for solid newspapers and written freelance for big-time publications (Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, the Miami Herald, the Washington Post, The Sun of Baltimore), you can get laid off by a tiny newspaper that's fighting for its life.
I'm proud of what I've done and what I can do, but I remain humble. They won't let me be any other way.
While the Mount Airy News is sold on racks, the Messenger is free distribution. They were thinking of dropping their Monday paper and instead going on Sundays. And while the weekday papers are distributed just in the Mount Airy area, the Sunday paper covers all of Surry County (except for homes that are almost inaccessible from the road, but that's a different story).
I was cocky for my second interview with the boss, Rebel Good. I'd worked at seven newspapers, including two in the 100,000 range. This paper was barely 11,000. I had forgotten that reporters at major newspapers rarely, if ever, help put the paper out. Copy editors rarely take pictures, and many don't lay out pages. This was a tiny paper, and, generally, everyone has to do everything.
I was hired to help them with the Sunday paper, and I did everything. Rebel didn't spare me. My first weekend, I did a story on gas wars in Mount Airy; later that Friday, I covered a game for Mount Airy High School.
Rebel sent me to take a picture of a McDonald's that was being razed and rebuilt; to write a story on a day-long power outage in Dobson, the county seat; to write a sports story on a local middle school that was hosting its first home football game, and to take pictures of the winning window display in a local festival.
He had me lay out the editorial page and to help the sports editor with whatever he needed. I'd wanted to write all of my career -- 29 years at that point -- and I wrote more stories in the first month than I'd written in either of the previous 10 years.
Then the sports editor quit and I took his place; and I got busier. I cranked out five sports sections a week with no regular helper. One of my co-workers, Brook, was a huge help on Fridays during high school playoffs. But I still had to write two to four stories that night and lay out the section. Once, I left at 6 p.m. for the game, and I didn't finish until six a.m. No, that's not a typo.
It was hard work, but I reveled in it. I was working at a daily newspaper with a weekly flavor. I always tell young journalists to take a job at a weekly or a small daily; you'll have to learn everything, and you'll be better off in the long run.
On Dec. 13, 2008, I drove to Raleigh, N.C., to cover Mount Airy High School playing in the state Class A championship game. I had to take first-half pictures and email them back to the paper. Then I went back on the field, watched the last third of the game, took notes, took more pictures, interviewed coaches and players. My column from that game, in which I basically just told what I saw, was probably the best thing I wrote for the Messenger.
The biggest problem I had is that I had no wire. If I had a slow news day, I still had to find stories or pictures to fill the section. The last week of the year, around Christmas and New Year's, was a terrible time for sports news, and that's when I planned to run the all-county football team and a feature on the Elkin High School fencing team.
I'd just finished my six-page section on Friday, Jan. 2 when Rebel grabbed the page proofs and called me into his office. For four months, I'd worried every time he called me in the office, afraid he'd fire me for some little screw up. This time, he sat me down, said they were cutting back on sports coverage and letting me go.
I was stunned, naturally. I knew the paper was cutting back to three days a week because of the economic downturn, but I'd been busy; I hadn't had time that week to worry about my job.
It was a part of my continuing education, of course. I was reminded that, even if you've worked for solid newspapers and written freelance for big-time publications (Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, the Miami Herald, the Washington Post, The Sun of Baltimore), you can get laid off by a tiny newspaper that's fighting for its life.
I'm proud of what I've done and what I can do, but I remain humble. They won't let me be any other way.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
I am NOT a martinet...
Word to watch: Martinet — Main Entry: mar·ti·net
Col. Thursday was the dictionary definition of a martinet. I loved many of Fonda's characters, particularly Mr. Roberts and his character opposite Jimmy Stewart in "The Cheyenne Social Club," but I hated Col. Thursday. Perhaps it was meant to be so. What a jerk ... got his men (and himself) killed.
More whom vs. who: I'm still picking on the NY Times. This was found yesterday: Whom did the Giants pick with the choices netted in the Shockey trade? Maybe it's just me, but, to my ear, Who did the Giants pick works better.
Play on words: I just found a web site for the Boston Red Sox called BoSox Injection. Obviously a play on botox injection. Meaningless, but I like it.
A better read: I just found this online — "I grew to love it,” Sullivan, of Andover, Mass., said. That reads better as, "I grew to love it,” said Sullivan, of Andover, Mass. It's cleaner, easier to read.
Pronunciation: \ˌmär-tə-ˈnet\Every time I watch the 1948 movie "Fort Apache" (John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond), it always strikes me as funny when Fonda's Colonel Owen Thursday declares "I am NOT a martinet!" But then he declares how they will adhere to dress codes, etc.
Function: noun
Etymology: Jean Martinet, 17th century French army officer, Date: 1737
1 : a strict disciplinarian 2 : a person who stresses a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods
Col. Thursday was the dictionary definition of a martinet. I loved many of Fonda's characters, particularly Mr. Roberts and his character opposite Jimmy Stewart in "The Cheyenne Social Club," but I hated Col. Thursday. Perhaps it was meant to be so. What a jerk ... got his men (and himself) killed.
More whom vs. who: I'm still picking on the NY Times. This was found yesterday: Whom did the Giants pick with the choices netted in the Shockey trade? Maybe it's just me, but, to my ear, Who did the Giants pick works better.
Play on words: I just found a web site for the Boston Red Sox called BoSox Injection. Obviously a play on botox injection. Meaningless, but I like it.
A better read: I just found this online — "I grew to love it,” Sullivan, of Andover, Mass., said. That reads better as, "I grew to love it,” said Sullivan, of Andover, Mass. It's cleaner, easier to read.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Say what you mean
Word to watch: I was just reading a historical baseball story about the major-league owners looking to start a third big league in 1959. One sentence puzzled me: The owners reacted to the birth of the new league with disingenuous encouragement.
Obviously, disingenuous was the ringer. Did it mean that the owners were insincere? Did they go for it? Did they hate it? So I looked the word up.
Me, I'd never use disingenuous; I like to make my meaning crystal clear.
Another word: From the same story, this sentence smacks us: All through the winter and spring of 1960, the Continental League remained a Page 1 story, with Rickey using all of his orotund skills to sustain the belief that the new league was, as he put it, “as inevitable as tomorrow morning.”
It's orotund that gets us this time. The meaning:
I was afraid that clearness was a meaning, since orotund is as clear as mud. I kinda like the other meaning: pompous or bombastic.
Blogs to watch: You might check out Writing Craft & Practice by Stephanie Golden. ... There's also Words by Bob, a blog that means to take a humorous approach to writing.
Obviously, disingenuous was the ringer. Did it mean that the owners were insincere? Did they go for it? Did they hate it? So I looked the word up.
–adjectiveYes, it means that baseball's team owners pretended to love the idea, but they didn't go for it. And it never happened.
lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere: Her excuse was rather disingenuous.
Origin:
1645–55; dis- 1 + ingenuous
Related forms:
dis⋅in⋅gen⋅u⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
dis⋅in⋅gen⋅u⋅ous⋅ness, noun
Me, I'd never use disingenuous; I like to make my meaning crystal clear.
Another word: From the same story, this sentence smacks us: All through the winter and spring of 1960, the Continental League remained a Page 1 story, with Rickey using all of his orotund skills to sustain the belief that the new league was, as he put it, “as inevitable as tomorrow morning.”
It's orotund that gets us this time. The meaning:
–adjective
1. (of the voice or speech) characterized by strength, fullness, richness, and clearness.
2. (of a style of speaking) pompous or bombastic.
Origin:
1785–95; contr. of L phrase ōre rotundō, with round mouth
Related forms:
o⋅ro⋅tun⋅di⋅ty /ˌɔrəˈtʌndɪti, ˌoʊr-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [awr-uh-tuhn-di-tee, ohr-] Show IPA , noun
I was afraid that clearness was a meaning, since orotund is as clear as mud. I kinda like the other meaning: pompous or bombastic.
Blogs to watch: You might check out Writing Craft & Practice by Stephanie Golden. ... There's also Words by Bob, a blog that means to take a humorous approach to writing.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
... and a little bit of that.
Word of the day: Antediluvian — 1: of or relating to the period before the flood described in the Bible2 a: made, evolved, or developed a long time ago (an antediluvian automobile) b: extremely primitive or outmoded (an antediluvian prejudice).
Needs editing: Found online — Expectations were low heading into 2008, but with the edition of Bill Parcells to the front office,... The addition of Bill Parcells, GM Jeff Ireland and coach Tony Sparano, all from the Dallas Cowboys, turned the Dolphins into an 11-6 team last year.
Blogs to watch: You might check out this blog entry on 5 ways to write a better writer's blog. The blog is called Bubble Cow. ... Erik Sherman's WriterBiz is another possibility. Sherman has written for an impressive group of publications.
Needs editing: Found online — Expectations were low heading into 2008, but with the edition of Bill Parcells to the front office,... The addition of Bill Parcells, GM Jeff Ireland and coach Tony Sparano, all from the Dallas Cowboys, turned the Dolphins into an 11-6 team last year.
Blogs to watch: You might check out this blog entry on 5 ways to write a better writer's blog. The blog is called Bubble Cow. ... Erik Sherman's WriterBiz is another possibility. Sherman has written for an impressive group of publications.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A little bit of this...
Who's next? This was just found in a NY Times story — Some of the residents have a sense of whom Dalkowski was, or might have been. Yes, it should be who, not whom. Who Dalkowski was.
It's amazing how often whom is used incorrectly; sadly, I probably do it myself now and then.
Today's words: Recidivism — a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior ; especially : relapse into criminal behavior. Chuck Knoblauch and Steve Sax, two pretty good second baseman otherwise, had trouble throwing to first, and apparently they were recidivists, if that's a word (I looked it up; it is).
A golfer who repeatedly shanks the ball into the woods probably has the same problem. The more you try to avoid it, the more it happens.
I was reading a novel and came across parsimonious. From context, it appeared to mean cheap or tight with your money. The online dictionary defines it this way: 1 : exhibiting or marked by parsimony; especially : frugal to the point of stinginess
2 : SPARING, RESTRAINED; synonym see STINGY. Yep.
Blog to check out: You might try Help Me Get Hired. It's done by an editor/proofreader.
It's amazing how often whom is used incorrectly; sadly, I probably do it myself now and then.
Today's words: Recidivism — a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior ; especially : relapse into criminal behavior. Chuck Knoblauch and Steve Sax, two pretty good second baseman otherwise, had trouble throwing to first, and apparently they were recidivists, if that's a word (I looked it up; it is).
A golfer who repeatedly shanks the ball into the woods probably has the same problem. The more you try to avoid it, the more it happens.
I was reading a novel and came across parsimonious. From context, it appeared to mean cheap or tight with your money. The online dictionary defines it this way: 1 : exhibiting or marked by parsimony; especially : frugal to the point of stinginess
2 : SPARING, RESTRAINED; synonym see STINGY. Yep.
Blog to check out: You might try Help Me Get Hired. It's done by an editor/proofreader.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Newsman supreme
That's the way it was: It's interesting how languages evolve, and I found something interesting in an Associated Press story on the death of legendary newsman Walter Cronkite. Cronkite was the first TV newsman who was called an anchorman, and his influence was so great that Swedish TV anchors are called Kronkiters; in Holland, they are Cronkiters.
There are few great plaudits than that. Cronkite, known as the most trusted man in America, isn't remembered as much today, but I'll always remember him becoming teary-eyed while announcing President Kennedy's death. I was 11, and I'd never seen a TV newsman show emotion while working. That's become more common since then.
When magazines name the top 50 or top 100 TV people of all time, I'm always saddened when they put Gary Coleman on their list but leave off Walter Cronkite.
Blog to watch: You might check out Madam Mayo's Blog. It appears that she's doing a book tour.
Mrs. mess: I hate it when a woman identifies herself as Mrs. Marlene Schmoe. No, she's Mrs. Joe Schmoe and she's just Marlene Schmoe.
Desk duty: I'm working the sports desk tonight, and I've already edited a story on a softball pitcher who starred in the NCAA tournament and in the Olympics. Next, I need to start putting together the National League baseball roundup and the golf roundup.
I edited the British Open story and was disappointed when I couldn't come up with a great headline -- Tom Watson deserves a better headline.
The most interesting story I've edited was about soon-to-be-Hall-of-Famer Jim Rice, who saved a four-year-old boy when he was playing for the Boston Red Sox. The headline: All-time Play.
Baseball was slowing me up. We had two games rain delayed, and one was postponed. I only wound up with three games in the National League roundup.
I had to edit the Bowman Gray Stadium racing story twice because of a change in the small type, called agate. I had to shorten the story the second time around, and, naturally, it was the final file of the night.
We're outta here.
There are few great plaudits than that. Cronkite, known as the most trusted man in America, isn't remembered as much today, but I'll always remember him becoming teary-eyed while announcing President Kennedy's death. I was 11, and I'd never seen a TV newsman show emotion while working. That's become more common since then.
When magazines name the top 50 or top 100 TV people of all time, I'm always saddened when they put Gary Coleman on their list but leave off Walter Cronkite.
Blog to watch: You might check out Madam Mayo's Blog. It appears that she's doing a book tour.
Mrs. mess: I hate it when a woman identifies herself as Mrs. Marlene Schmoe. No, she's Mrs. Joe Schmoe and she's just Marlene Schmoe.
Desk duty: I'm working the sports desk tonight, and I've already edited a story on a softball pitcher who starred in the NCAA tournament and in the Olympics. Next, I need to start putting together the National League baseball roundup and the golf roundup.
I edited the British Open story and was disappointed when I couldn't come up with a great headline -- Tom Watson deserves a better headline.
The most interesting story I've edited was about soon-to-be-Hall-of-Famer Jim Rice, who saved a four-year-old boy when he was playing for the Boston Red Sox. The headline: All-time Play.
Baseball was slowing me up. We had two games rain delayed, and one was postponed. I only wound up with three games in the National League roundup.
I had to edit the Bowman Gray Stadium racing story twice because of a change in the small type, called agate. I had to shorten the story the second time around, and, naturally, it was the final file of the night.
We're outta here.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Death and dismemberment
I've known the word expiration for nearly 50 years, but I just found expiry. Where had it been all of my life? An expiry is simply an expiration, especially of a contract or an agreement; it's death.
Did I say that I love words? Even deadly ones.
I just found megadeaths. Just as megatons defines the power of an atomic bomb, megadeaths defines the potential loss of human life from those bombs.
Let's take martyrdom — a death that is imposed because of the person's adherence to a religious faith or cause. Joan of Arc was a martyr.
I've long thought of termination in terms of death (the Terminator movies) or losing a job. I just found that, in linguistics, it's the end of a word, as a suffix, inflectional ending, or final morpheme. I know, you're wondering what a morpheme is; according to an online dictionary, it's the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning. Well, that's clear.
Actually, here's an example of morphemes: The word "unbreakable" has three morphemes: "un-", a bound morpheme; "break", a free morpheme; and "-able", a bound morpheme. "un-" is also a prefix, "-able" is a suffix. Both "un-" and "-able" are affixes.
Learn something new everyday.
Did I say that I love words? Even deadly ones.
I just found megadeaths. Just as megatons defines the power of an atomic bomb, megadeaths defines the potential loss of human life from those bombs.
Let's take martyrdom — a death that is imposed because of the person's adherence to a religious faith or cause. Joan of Arc was a martyr.
I've long thought of termination in terms of death (the Terminator movies) or losing a job. I just found that, in linguistics, it's the end of a word, as a suffix, inflectional ending, or final morpheme. I know, you're wondering what a morpheme is; according to an online dictionary, it's the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning. Well, that's clear.
Actually, here's an example of morphemes: The word "unbreakable" has three morphemes: "un-", a bound morpheme; "break", a free morpheme; and "-able", a bound morpheme. "un-" is also a prefix, "-able" is a suffix. Both "un-" and "-able" are affixes.
Learn something new everyday.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A busy night
I'm working the sports copy desk again tonight, and I've already been busy. I've put together NBA and NFL notes, and I've already edited the Tour de France story (Armstrong's still third), an advance on the world swimming championships (the Spanish are behind in preparations) and a story on NBA free agents LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
I edited a story on Jason Myers, the former car chief for a NASCAR team. We accidentally had Myers listed in a quoteout as a former crew chief, and I pointed that out to the paginator, the guy who was laying out the paper tonight.
I edited yet another story on Steve McNair, the former NFL quarterback who was shot to death.
No chance for a good headline so far, although I had to look up the spelling of Dwyane Wade's first name.
This newspaper likes to use the term athletics director, not the more popular athletic director. I just got to leave in athletic director, since the official name of the award was athletic director of the year.
I edited a couple of British Open stories and even found a mistake or two in British Open copy. I'll put together the five-game major-league roundup and a golf roundup. I'll have to wait until 10:30 or later for baseball; the seven o'clock games are in progress.
One of the hardest things I did for the night was to edit the local baseball story. I had to break out the scalpel -- I never use the hatchet -- to get it to fit. The night editor changed my headline, and I have to admit that his was better.
I just finished editing the baseball roundup, the final file, and all we need to do now is look at page proofs. We're a little over an hour early.
Yes, we're outta here.
I edited a story on Jason Myers, the former car chief for a NASCAR team. We accidentally had Myers listed in a quoteout as a former crew chief, and I pointed that out to the paginator, the guy who was laying out the paper tonight.
I edited yet another story on Steve McNair, the former NFL quarterback who was shot to death.
No chance for a good headline so far, although I had to look up the spelling of Dwyane Wade's first name.
This newspaper likes to use the term athletics director, not the more popular athletic director. I just got to leave in athletic director, since the official name of the award was athletic director of the year.
I edited a couple of British Open stories and even found a mistake or two in British Open copy. I'll put together the five-game major-league roundup and a golf roundup. I'll have to wait until 10:30 or later for baseball; the seven o'clock games are in progress.
One of the hardest things I did for the night was to edit the local baseball story. I had to break out the scalpel -- I never use the hatchet -- to get it to fit. The night editor changed my headline, and I have to admit that his was better.
I just finished editing the baseball roundup, the final file, and all we need to do now is look at page proofs. We're a little over an hour early.
Yes, we're outta here.
This and that
Head(line) hunting: This newspaper headline — Lawyers Give Poor Free Legal Advice — can be taken two ways. It either means that the poor are getting free legal advice, or it means that the lawyers are just giving out bad advice for free.
Found online: It is still uncertain what his roll in the formation will be.... I think they mean role, not roll.
Simply magical: Yesterday, we looked at several words. Today, we'll do one.
We won't go into detail, but magic has been used to explain unexplainable events, and it's been used, via sleight of hand, to entertain us. And it's a word used to describe the enchantment of the works of Walt Disney.
The etymology: The word magic comes from Middle English magik, from Old French magique, from Late Latin magica, from Latin magic, from Greek magik, and from the feminine of magikos.
The streak: I just found a story about a football team having signed all of its rookies each of the last two years. It said the team wanted to run the streak to three consecutive years. The problem? If it's a streak, you don't need the word consecutive; it's implied.
Found online: It is still uncertain what his roll in the formation will be.... I think they mean role, not roll.
Simply magical: Yesterday, we looked at several words. Today, we'll do one.
We won't go into detail, but magic has been used to explain unexplainable events, and it's been used, via sleight of hand, to entertain us. And it's a word used to describe the enchantment of the works of Walt Disney.
The etymology: The word magic comes from Middle English magik, from Old French magique, from Late Latin magica, from Latin magic, from Greek magik, and from the feminine of magikos.
The streak: I just found a story about a football team having signed all of its rookies each of the last two years. It said the team wanted to run the streak to three consecutive years. The problem? If it's a streak, you don't need the word consecutive; it's implied.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A word from our sponsor
I love the sounds and meanings and nuances of words. Today, I was reading a Dick Francis book, and he used the word somnambulist. I guessed from som (makes me think of insomnia) and ambulist (makes me think of amble) that a somnambulist is a sleepwalker, and, fortunately, I was right.
Let's look at a few other words, all from a special list by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online.
Take maverick. It makes me think of the 1950-60s TV program featuring James Garner. Garner's character, Brett Maverick, was a bit of a maverick. The M-W Dictionary's first definition is an American pioneer who did not brand his calves, and I'd never heard of that usage. It also says that a maverick is an unbranded range animal, especially a motherless calf, or it's an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party. The last definition would fit Brett Maverick.
It's funny, but I've met a bunch of editors who might be called mavericks. And Sarah Palin obviously thinks she's a maverick.
Maverick takes us to rogue. A rogue can be a vagrant or tramp, a dishonest or worthless person or scoundrel, a mischievous person or scamp, a horse that's inclined to shirk or misbehave, or an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation.
Misogyny is another of the dictionary's pet words this year. It means the hatred of women, and it comes from the Greek misogynia, from misein to hate + gynē woman. Obviously, a man who hates women is a misogynist.
Misogyny got me looking online ... a man who loves women is called a philogynist, and a woman who hates men is called a misandrist.
Interestingly, the Blogspot dictionary recognizes misogynist, but not philogynist or misandrist. Not used as much, I guess.
My headline for this blog entry — A word from our sponsor — got me to look up sponsor. It means one who presents a candidate for baptism or confirmation and undertakes responsibility for the person's religious education or spiritual welfare, one who assumes responsibility for some other person or thing, a person or an organization that pays for or plans and carries out a project or activity (especially one that pays the cost of a radio or television program usually in return for advertising time during its course).
The etymology of sponsor comes from the Late Latin, spondēre, to promise.
And, finally, we'll look up etymology. The main definition is the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language.
The etymology for etymology: It comes from the Middle English ethimologie, from Anglo-French, from Latin etymologia, from Greek, from etymon + -logia -logy. In other words, the word evolved over the centuries.
More later.
Let's look at a few other words, all from a special list by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online.
Take maverick. It makes me think of the 1950-60s TV program featuring James Garner. Garner's character, Brett Maverick, was a bit of a maverick. The M-W Dictionary's first definition is an American pioneer who did not brand his calves, and I'd never heard of that usage. It also says that a maverick is an unbranded range animal, especially a motherless calf, or it's an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party. The last definition would fit Brett Maverick.
It's funny, but I've met a bunch of editors who might be called mavericks. And Sarah Palin obviously thinks she's a maverick.
Maverick takes us to rogue. A rogue can be a vagrant or tramp, a dishonest or worthless person or scoundrel, a mischievous person or scamp, a horse that's inclined to shirk or misbehave, or an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation.
Misogyny is another of the dictionary's pet words this year. It means the hatred of women, and it comes from the Greek misogynia, from misein to hate + gynē woman. Obviously, a man who hates women is a misogynist.
Misogyny got me looking online ... a man who loves women is called a philogynist, and a woman who hates men is called a misandrist.
Interestingly, the Blogspot dictionary recognizes misogynist, but not philogynist or misandrist. Not used as much, I guess.
My headline for this blog entry — A word from our sponsor — got me to look up sponsor. It means one who presents a candidate for baptism or confirmation and undertakes responsibility for the person's religious education or spiritual welfare, one who assumes responsibility for some other person or thing, a person or an organization that pays for or plans and carries out a project or activity (especially one that pays the cost of a radio or television program usually in return for advertising time during its course).
The etymology of sponsor comes from the Late Latin, spondēre, to promise.
And, finally, we'll look up etymology. The main definition is the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language.
The etymology for etymology: It comes from the Middle English ethimologie, from Anglo-French, from Latin etymologia, from Greek, from etymon + -logia -logy. In other words, the word evolved over the centuries.
More later.
Monday, July 13, 2009
More headlines
I love bad headlines as much as the next guy (or Jay Leno), but you have to wonder if these headlines were ever put in front of an editor.
Here's one about a town councilwoman who claimed that some of her colleagues need "gender sensitivity" training. The headline? Chick Accuses Some of Her Male Colleagues of Sexism. Maybe the headline writer thought he was being cute.
Here's a baseball headline about the Texas Rangers facing a tough pitcher from the L.A. Angels: Rangers get whiff of Colon. Must have been a stinker.
Utah Poison Control Center reminds everyone not to take poison. Ya think?
Here's a headline from BBC News (it's about tiny birds in England): Great tits cope well with warming. There's nothing to say about that one.
Apparently Seaman left his team in England, and the headline was Keegan fills Schmeichel's gap with Seaman. Maybe the English don't think the way we do.
Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says. This is a golf story, folks.
This story's about Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie weds longtime girlfriend, slams Bush. I hope they were talking about the former president.
Here's a big surprise: Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons. What else would they find?
A headline said that an Army vehicle disappears. Under it, it says AN Australian Army vehicle worth $74,000 has gone missing after being painted with camouflage. Obviously the camouflage paint worked.
If you have a bad headline, please pass it along.
Here's one about a town councilwoman who claimed that some of her colleagues need "gender sensitivity" training. The headline? Chick Accuses Some of Her Male Colleagues of Sexism. Maybe the headline writer thought he was being cute.
Here's a baseball headline about the Texas Rangers facing a tough pitcher from the L.A. Angels: Rangers get whiff of Colon. Must have been a stinker.
Utah Poison Control Center reminds everyone not to take poison. Ya think?
Here's a headline from BBC News (it's about tiny birds in England): Great tits cope well with warming. There's nothing to say about that one.
Apparently Seaman left his team in England, and the headline was Keegan fills Schmeichel's gap with Seaman. Maybe the English don't think the way we do.
Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says. This is a golf story, folks.
This story's about Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie weds longtime girlfriend, slams Bush. I hope they were talking about the former president.
Here's a big surprise: Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons. What else would they find?
A headline said that an Army vehicle disappears. Under it, it says AN Australian Army vehicle worth $74,000 has gone missing after being painted with camouflage. Obviously the camouflage paint worked.
If you have a bad headline, please pass it along.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Working copy, writing headlines
It's been a busy night on the sports copy desk at the local newspaper.
The night opened with a story on the state of South Carolina losing millions of dollars because it continues to fly the Confederate flag. I took advantage of that, using the headline S.C. sports continue to be slave to Confederate flag. The drop-head was Palmetto State losing millions of dollars as it doesn’t get NCAA events.
I had to be careful with the story; the writer used it's when its was correct.
I also had to be careful with the spelling of Rinaldo Nocentini, the yellow jersey wearer in the Tour de France.
The AP started one story this way: First-round draft pick Jordan Hill has signed with the New York Knicks. The Knicks announced Saturday that they had signed the forward from Arizona. Hill was the eighth overall pick in the draft. I changed that to The New York Knicks announced yesterday that they have signed first-round draft pick Jordan Hill. Hill, the forward from Arizona, was the eighth overall pick in the draft.
That's quicker and more to the point.
I had to be careful while doing the baseball notebook. The Associated Press says Triple-A, while the local newspaper says Class AAA. Gotta make sure I make the change.
Since we're in North Carolina, we ran a story on an odd rivalry between Michael Jordan and Gerald Henderson. The two played against each other when Jordan was with the Chicago Bulls and Henderson was with the Boston Celtics. Jordan, not a managing partner with the Charlotte Bobcats, drafted Henderson's son, also named Gerald in last month's NBA draft.
To make it more interesting Jordan and Bobcats coach Larry Brown both played for the University of North Carolina, while young Henderson played for Duke. Jordan and the elder Henderson have been verbally sparring, so the headline became CAROLINA CLASH: Jordan, old foe duke it out over days past.
Sometimes you get a chance to write an interesting head; this was it.
I've edited a lot of files tonight. I put the NBA, NFL and baseball notes packages together, and I edited the NASCAR notebook. I also did the Tour de France story, and I edited a local story on racing at Bowman Gray Stadium. I struggled writing a headline for the latter story because there was so little room to say anything.
But we're not done. I put together the American League baseball roundup, and all six games made it in plenty of time. The NASCAR race from Chicagoland Speedway is over, but we're waiting for the wire story, plus a local story on minor-league baseball.
Midnight, our deadline, passed, and, naturally, I did the final file. We were about 15 minutes late.
The night opened with a story on the state of South Carolina losing millions of dollars because it continues to fly the Confederate flag. I took advantage of that, using the headline S.C. sports continue to be slave to Confederate flag. The drop-head was Palmetto State losing millions of dollars as it doesn’t get NCAA events.
I had to be careful with the story; the writer used it's when its was correct.
I also had to be careful with the spelling of Rinaldo Nocentini, the yellow jersey wearer in the Tour de France.
The AP started one story this way: First-round draft pick Jordan Hill has signed with the New York Knicks. The Knicks announced Saturday that they had signed the forward from Arizona. Hill was the eighth overall pick in the draft. I changed that to The New York Knicks announced yesterday that they have signed first-round draft pick Jordan Hill. Hill, the forward from Arizona, was the eighth overall pick in the draft.
That's quicker and more to the point.
I had to be careful while doing the baseball notebook. The Associated Press says Triple-A, while the local newspaper says Class AAA. Gotta make sure I make the change.
Since we're in North Carolina, we ran a story on an odd rivalry between Michael Jordan and Gerald Henderson. The two played against each other when Jordan was with the Chicago Bulls and Henderson was with the Boston Celtics. Jordan, not a managing partner with the Charlotte Bobcats, drafted Henderson's son, also named Gerald in last month's NBA draft.
To make it more interesting Jordan and Bobcats coach Larry Brown both played for the University of North Carolina, while young Henderson played for Duke. Jordan and the elder Henderson have been verbally sparring, so the headline became CAROLINA CLASH: Jordan, old foe duke it out over days past.
Sometimes you get a chance to write an interesting head; this was it.
I've edited a lot of files tonight. I put the NBA, NFL and baseball notes packages together, and I edited the NASCAR notebook. I also did the Tour de France story, and I edited a local story on racing at Bowman Gray Stadium. I struggled writing a headline for the latter story because there was so little room to say anything.
But we're not done. I put together the American League baseball roundup, and all six games made it in plenty of time. The NASCAR race from Chicagoland Speedway is over, but we're waiting for the wire story, plus a local story on minor-league baseball.
Midnight, our deadline, passed, and, naturally, I did the final file. We were about 15 minutes late.
This and that
Score bored: I always hate it when someone says that a team is losing or winning 16-0. They aren't losing 16-0; they're trailing 16-0. Or they're leading 16-0.
I can't complain too much, though; I've caught myself saying it, too.
That irritates me: I keep hearing this ... I'm the kind of guy that goes with the flow. He's the kind of outfielder who catches everything. She's the kind of girl that you don't want to take to meet dear old dad.
It's who. I'm a who. An outfielder is a who, and a girl is a who. Grrr.
Attribution rock: I just found this sentence on NYTimes.com — “It’s still a lot less than it would be if we had to pay someone to police the course,” Robinson, 67, said. The last part of the sentence works out better as ," said Robinson, 67.
I can't complain too much, though; I've caught myself saying it, too.
That irritates me: I keep hearing this ... I'm the kind of guy that goes with the flow. He's the kind of outfielder who catches everything. She's the kind of girl that you don't want to take to meet dear old dad.
It's who. I'm a who. An outfielder is a who, and a girl is a who. Grrr.
Attribution rock: I just found this sentence on NYTimes.com — “It’s still a lot less than it would be if we had to pay someone to police the course,” Robinson, 67, said. The last part of the sentence works out better as ," said Robinson, 67.
More editing/writing blog entries
Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
Thursday, July 9, 2009
More on over and more than
I just read an authoritative dissertation on how The Associated Press is anal retentive about the use of "over" and "more than." According to AP, you don't say "over one billion burgers sold"; AP would say "more than one billion..."
The blog writer says that "over" and "more than" have been interchangeable since the 14th century. He says that copy editors are wasting their time changing over to more than. At one time, I would have said that it didn't matter. In fact, I did say that.
I was editing a story in 1984 (I have a long memory), and my boss looked over my shoulder and pointed to "over." Perhaps it said that "over 40 football players were injured." He said he preferred "more than," so I changed it. At the time, I had no opinion.
But, over the years, my opinion changed. As my boss/friend said, the cow jumped over the moon, but more than 20 cattle followed him.
The blog writer is welcome to his opinion, but, if I can, I prefer to be precise.
The blog writer says that "over" and "more than" have been interchangeable since the 14th century. He says that copy editors are wasting their time changing over to more than. At one time, I would have said that it didn't matter. In fact, I did say that.
I was editing a story in 1984 (I have a long memory), and my boss looked over my shoulder and pointed to "over." Perhaps it said that "over 40 football players were injured." He said he preferred "more than," so I changed it. At the time, I had no opinion.
But, over the years, my opinion changed. As my boss/friend said, the cow jumped over the moon, but more than 20 cattle followed him.
The blog writer is welcome to his opinion, but, if I can, I prefer to be precise.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Something's wrong, but what?
Years ago, I was working as slot editor in sports, which meant that I decided what went on each page, I laid out the sports front, and I back-read stories. I was in charge that night; I was ultimately responsible for everything that went into the sports section.
We were nearing midnight, and one of my editors came to me with the sports column. He told me that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was. I read it and immediately realized the writer had a semi-local football player playing for the wrong team in Super Bowl III. That wasn't the only problem, but it was a great start.
I immediately called the writer, and it was obvious he had been asleep. I told him that something was wrong with his column, and he said to fix it. He wanted to sleep. I said I wanted to sleep, too, but I wanted to fix his column. I read a section of it to him, and you could hear him perk up over the phone.
I wound up reading the whole thing to him, and we fixed it together, almost line by line. By now, he was wide awake and immensely interested. We got it fixed, and he thanked me. The next time I saw him in person, he thanked me again. Writers have rarely thanked me — they wanted to be praised, but they figure editing is my job — so I remember it.
This column had already been through two sets of hands before my fellow editor got it. Although he couldn't identify the problem(s), he got it to me. If he hadn't done that, we'd all have been in hot water, especially the writer and me. And since I was ultimately responsible, I would have been raked over the coals.
It took teamwork to get the editing done. And if I hadn't been insistent — yes, pushy — we wouldn't have gotten anywhere.
And, yes, I thanked my fellow editor for saving my butt.
We were nearing midnight, and one of my editors came to me with the sports column. He told me that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was. I read it and immediately realized the writer had a semi-local football player playing for the wrong team in Super Bowl III. That wasn't the only problem, but it was a great start.
I immediately called the writer, and it was obvious he had been asleep. I told him that something was wrong with his column, and he said to fix it. He wanted to sleep. I said I wanted to sleep, too, but I wanted to fix his column. I read a section of it to him, and you could hear him perk up over the phone.
I wound up reading the whole thing to him, and we fixed it together, almost line by line. By now, he was wide awake and immensely interested. We got it fixed, and he thanked me. The next time I saw him in person, he thanked me again. Writers have rarely thanked me — they wanted to be praised, but they figure editing is my job — so I remember it.
This column had already been through two sets of hands before my fellow editor got it. Although he couldn't identify the problem(s), he got it to me. If he hadn't done that, we'd all have been in hot water, especially the writer and me. And since I was ultimately responsible, I would have been raked over the coals.
It took teamwork to get the editing done. And if I hadn't been insistent — yes, pushy — we wouldn't have gotten anywhere.
And, yes, I thanked my fellow editor for saving my butt.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Write tight
Some writers have to pad their words. Take this sentence from an online story: The Dallas Cowboys are a team that has etched a significant image in the NFL landscape over a short period of time. Why not write: The Dallas Cowboys have etched ... No big deal.
Terrible typo: In my blog on July 3, I ended with the sentence The newspaper I freelance for now mandates that we use that in such instances. Sometimes they overuse that and underuse to, but that's their business. Someone asked about that; I should have said on. Like everyone else, I need an editor.
Changing words: You'll notice quickly that I'm a fan of the Miami Dolphins, and I found this sentence earlier today — While the Dolphins won nine of their last 10 games to reach the playoffs, the Jets floundered, missed the playoffs, and Mangini was fired. I think foundered works better than floundered, but that's just me.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary online defines flounder as to struggle to move or obtain footing : thrash about wildly. Its definition for founder: to become disabled ; especially : to go lame.
When I was a kid, foundered was the correct word. People do use floundered more than foundered, and it bothers me. By using floundered instead of foundered, the people have changed the definition of the word.
A boat that's sinking doesn't flounder (thrash about wildly). It founders (becomes disabled). The Jets probably did some thrashing last year, but, in the end, they became ineffective (foundered).
Terrible typo: In my blog on July 3, I ended with the sentence The newspaper I freelance for now mandates that we use that in such instances. Sometimes they overuse that and underuse to, but that's their business. Someone asked about that; I should have said on. Like everyone else, I need an editor.
Changing words: You'll notice quickly that I'm a fan of the Miami Dolphins, and I found this sentence earlier today — While the Dolphins won nine of their last 10 games to reach the playoffs, the Jets floundered, missed the playoffs, and Mangini was fired. I think foundered works better than floundered, but that's just me.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary online defines flounder as to struggle to move or obtain footing : thrash about wildly. Its definition for founder: to become disabled ; especially : to go lame.
When I was a kid, foundered was the correct word. People do use floundered more than foundered, and it bothers me. By using floundered instead of foundered, the people have changed the definition of the word.
A boat that's sinking doesn't flounder (thrash about wildly). It founders (becomes disabled). The Jets probably did some thrashing last year, but, in the end, they became ineffective (foundered).
Saturday, July 4, 2009
A few rim shots
I find myself a little nervous as I work the sports desk on a part-time basis at the local newspaper. The reason? This blog.
I'm parceling out advice and critiquing others, and now I'm under the gun myself while working rim. I edit, therefore I am. I screw up, and everybody sees it.
It hasn't been bad so far tonight, though. I've edited auto racing, PGA and LPGA golf, tennis (Wimbledon women's final), and the Tour de France, and I finished the National League and American League baseball roundups.
One of our biggest debates was whether to say Center Court or Centre Court (the British spelling) for the women's Wimbledon story. I think we settled on Center, since, as the night editor pointed out, we're in the United States.
I edited a story on race-car drivers not buying racing insurance -- it led off with a top short-track driver who broke his back and didn't have insurance -- and the headline wound up Insurance takes a backseat for most drivers.
Our top story is probably the shooting death of former NFL star Steve McNair. I wrote the headline and edited the story, but it was changed because of an update from The Associated Press. You have to write conservative headlines on stories like that -- Killings of McNair, woman are investigated.
The good thing tonight is that the local short track, Bowman Gray Stadium, is taking this weekend off. That means we have one less story that's coming in late.
Our big problem was that we have a midnight deadline, and the NASCAR race at Daytona Beach didn't start until after 8 p.m. Despite all of the wrecks, Tony Stewart won the race before 11:30, so we're in good shape. We should make deadline.
We needed a story on the 25th anniversary of Richard Petty's 200th win, and I edited it. That was about 10 minutes before deadline.
I may have spoken too soon. It's seven minutes to deadline, and we still don't have a story from Daytona Beach that's long enough to fill the allotted space.
More later. Stay tuned.
I'm parceling out advice and critiquing others, and now I'm under the gun myself while working rim. I edit, therefore I am. I screw up, and everybody sees it.
It hasn't been bad so far tonight, though. I've edited auto racing, PGA and LPGA golf, tennis (Wimbledon women's final), and the Tour de France, and I finished the National League and American League baseball roundups.
One of our biggest debates was whether to say Center Court or Centre Court (the British spelling) for the women's Wimbledon story. I think we settled on Center, since, as the night editor pointed out, we're in the United States.
I edited a story on race-car drivers not buying racing insurance -- it led off with a top short-track driver who broke his back and didn't have insurance -- and the headline wound up Insurance takes a backseat for most drivers.
Our top story is probably the shooting death of former NFL star Steve McNair. I wrote the headline and edited the story, but it was changed because of an update from The Associated Press. You have to write conservative headlines on stories like that -- Killings of McNair, woman are investigated.
The good thing tonight is that the local short track, Bowman Gray Stadium, is taking this weekend off. That means we have one less story that's coming in late.
Our big problem was that we have a midnight deadline, and the NASCAR race at Daytona Beach didn't start until after 8 p.m. Despite all of the wrecks, Tony Stewart won the race before 11:30, so we're in good shape. We should make deadline.
We needed a story on the 25th anniversary of Richard Petty's 200th win, and I edited it. That was about 10 minutes before deadline.
I may have spoken too soon. It's seven minutes to deadline, and we still don't have a story from Daytona Beach that's long enough to fill the allotted space.
More later. Stay tuned.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Overusing that and underusing on
Newspapers are always looking for ways to save words, and I generally agree. If you write a 600-word story but it can be said in 580 words, you're better off.
But there's one thing that bothers me: the use of the word on before a date.
I found this in a Miami Herald story:
The last part is the section that bothers me. "... Davis' whereabouts on June 9" sounds better to me.
I've worked at newspapers that wouldn't let you use the word on in that instance, unless there was a proper noun in front of it.
I think the sentence needs something else. You might write it: Earlier this week, Davis said that he thought any damage to his image was minimized ...
The newspaper I freelance for now mandates that we use that in such instances. Sometimes they overuse that and underuse on, but that's their business.
Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
But there's one thing that bothers me: the use of the word on before a date.
I found this in a Miami Herald story:
Earlier this week, Davis said he thought any damage to his image was minimized when the Dolphins quickly informed the police and media outlets of Davis' whereabouts June 9.
The last part is the section that bothers me. "... Davis' whereabouts on June 9" sounds better to me.
I've worked at newspapers that wouldn't let you use the word on in that instance, unless there was a proper noun in front of it.
He drove his brother back to the Medical University on June 9.In that case, on breaks up capitalized words, which I think avoids confusion.
I think the sentence needs something else. You might write it: Earlier this week, Davis said that he thought any damage to his image was minimized ...
The newspaper I freelance for now mandates that we use that in such instances. Sometimes they overuse that and underuse on, but that's their business.
More SpeedEditor blog entries
Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
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