#512

i newspaper, December 11, 2019

This is clumsy. You should not make the reader wait so long for the surprise: that he is nearly 80. Having said that he is ’80 tomorrow’, you really do not need to say that he is 79 today.

Improving it is simple.

First sentence: Turning 80 tomorrow, Eric Marshall still climbs . . . light display.

Second sentence: He spends all of November . . .

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I cannot stress strongly enough that it takes years of experience to make a good sub-editor. When I was a junior sub, almost everyone else in the department was older and wiser, and the benefit of their experience was passed down to me. A chief sub would often point out how things could be improved. These days most older subs have been dispensed with and there is no one to teach or mentor the younger ones. Staffs have been so reduced that no one has time to guide anyone else.

This clinic is an attempt to pass on my experience using real examples. I would love to receive items from others as I do not read every paper every day. I will add new entries as I come across them.