THE CUTTLEFISH
He that uses many words for the explaining of any subject doth, like the cuttlefish, hide himself in his own ink.—Anon.
BEARER OF INTELLIGENCE . . . DISPELLER OF IGNORANCE AND PREJUDICE . . . A LIGHT SHINING INTO ALL DARK PLACES.
HEADS
"The head," says Ross, "is an advertisement, and like all good advertisements it should be honest, holding out no promise that the story does not fulfill. It should be based on the facts as set forth in the story and nothing else."
The head should be a bulletin or summary of the important facts, not a mere label.
It is usually best to base the head on the lead of the story. The first deck should tell the most important feature. Every succeeding deck should contribute new information, not merely explain previous statements or repeat them in different language.
The function of the head is to tell the facts, not to give the writer's comment on the facts.
The head for the feature story, the special department, the editorial or the illustration may properly be a title that suggests the material it advertises instead of summarizing it. Indeed, the success of a feature story often depends on its having a head that directs the reader to the story and arouses his curiosity in it without disclosing the most interesting content. Head writers should beware of revealing in the head the surprise of a story, if it has one.
Never turn in a head that you guess will fit. Make sure. Heads that are too long cause delay and confusion.
As a general rule write heads in the present tense.
Principal words should not be repeated. Do not, however, use impossible synonyms, as canine for dog or inn for hotel.
Make every deck complete in itself.
Use articles sparingly. Occasionally they are needed. Observe the difference in meaning between King George Takes Little Liquor and King George Takes a Little Liquor.
Avoid such overworked and awkward words as probe, rap, quiz, Russ.
Never abbreviate President to Pres.
Avoid ending a line with a preposition, an article or a conjunction, as,
TO MAKE PLANS FOR
AMERICAN DEFENSE
Do not divide phrases, as,
CUT IN SCHEDULE
"K" IS PROBABLE
CAMP PICKS ALL-
AMERICAN TEAM
Try to make each line of the first deck a unit, as,
POSTOFFICE ROBBED
BY BAND OF TRAMPS
TARIFF BOARD REPORTS
ON ALL WOOL SCHEDULES
STORY OF DYING MAN
REOPENS GRAFT CASE
Observe that in reading these heads there is a natural pause that comes at the end of the line. The same principle may govern the writing of three-line heads, as,
ONE GIRL'S ACT
PREVENTS 60,000
FROM WORKING
WAYNE MEN WANT
CANAL TO CONNECT
CITY WITH DETROIT
In the head just written observe that the first line has fewer letters because it contains two W's and an M. Either an M or a W is equal to a letter and a half, and an I and a space are each equal to half a letter. The first line contains 14½ units; the second line contains 15 units; the third line contains 15 units. And yet the first line contains 14 letters and spaces, the second 16, and the third 17.
Every deck should contain a verb, expressed or implied. In this head,
THIEVES BUSY
IN NORTH END
the verb are is understood.
If the subject of the verb in the first deck is not written, it should be the first word of the second deck, as,
INVESTIGATE
WET VICTORY
Texas Senators All Agreed
to Inquire Into Late
Election.
Omit all forms of the verb to be whenever possible. This head,
ASKED HOW HE GOT
STOLEN AUTOMOBILE
is more effective than this,
IS ASKED HOW HE GOT
THE STOLEN AUTOMOBILE
Avoid expressions that are awkward because of omission of some form of the verb to be such as this:
U. S. WEATHER MAN
SAYS SUMMER HERE
Negatives should be avoided. The head should as a rule tell what happened, not what did not happen.
Avoid the word may. The head should as a rule tell what happened, not what is going to take place, perhaps.
Beware of heads that contain words of double meaning, as,
NURSES HOPE
TO WIN GAME
The word nurses may be taken as a noun or a verb.
In this head the first word might be read as a noun or as a verb:
SCOUTS CLAIM KAISER
IS TO BLAME FOR WAR
Use as little punctuation as possible in the first deck.
Avoid alliteration.
Use few abbreviations.
Use figures sparingly.
Insert subheads in long stories at intervals of 150 to 200 words. Use at least two subheads or none.
When there is a paragraph ending, The President spoke as follows:, place the subhead before this paragraph and not between it and the quoted matter.
Avoid such makeshift constructions as
M A Y O R WILL
RESIGN, SAID
WILSON WON'T
REPLY, RUMOR
Avoid beginning a head with quotation marks because the white space destroys the balance of the head. When it is unavoidable, use single quotation marks.
Avoid heads in which a dash takes the place of says, as,
SHIPPING BOARD
MUST GO—WILSON
When this style is necessary, use quotation marks.
It is permissible to make the first deck of a head a quotation without quotation marks, writing the name of the person quoted in full-face caps immediately below the deck. One need seldom resort to this expedient.
Be careful of the present tense in writing of historical events. The head on a story about the legality of Christ's trial should not read,
JESUS CHRIST IS
ILLEGALLY SLAIN
nor should it read
JESUS CHRIST WAS
ILLEGALLY SLAIN
but it should read
SAYS CHRIST WAS
ILLEGALLY SLAIN
Remember always in writing heads that although a newspaper man seldom reads more than the first deck, deciding by that whether to read the story, many readers of the paper read no more than the head, and for them it should summarize the story, embodying all its salient features.