Get To The Point

When I began on this paper as a columnist, I would basically write whatever I wanted and not think about how much I would write. My columns were as long as they needed to be to get my point across, whatever that point may be. It was somebody else's problem to figure out how to fit it on the editorial page. When I began doing layout for the Friday edition, I discovered what a colossal pain it is trying to fit three columns on a single page and get them to fit just right. You'd think a puzzle with only three pieces wold be pretty easy. The problem is, the columns are never quite the right length. I'm not sure how the person before me did it. I soon discovered all the columns were all either too short, leaving me with a gap on the page (usually filled by a cartoon, assuming the gap is big enough-so if you are wondering why today's cartoon is so small, that's why), or too long, meaning I have to cut some of it.Well, the columns that usually appear are mine plus two others by people who don't work for the paper, usually a couple of politicians or occasionally a guest columnist. Technically speaking, I am an editor here at the newspaper and one of the duties of a guy with that title is to edit the copy that appears on the pages, including the editorial page. Only, I don't really feel comfortable cutting up a column written by somebody that doesn't work here. Especially when said column was written by a Senator or Congressperson. I wouldn't want to be accused of deliberately chopping up Senator So-and-So's rant about the fiscal irresponsibility of those fat cats in Washington just so I could make room for a story about my own fat cats.That means, on the editorial page anyway, the only place I feel comfortable making significant cuts is my own column, the increasingly inaccurately named “Cautiously Optimistic.” As a cynical, hard-bitten newspaperman, just like in those old 1940's movies, I am neither cautious nor optimistic these days. I am thinking about changing the name to “Hazardously Pessimistic.”Sorry. I went off on a tangent there, which I can't afford to do with the limited amount of space I have for my column this week. That was my point. I used to just write for however long I felt. Now, I have to write to a specific length, which is kinda hard to do, especially when you tend to ramble like I do.So every week, I first put everyone else's work on the page and then I look at how much room is left and ask myself, “How many words do I need to write to fill that space?”Writing enough words to fill the space usually isn't the problem for me. Instead, my problem is stopping. I never know when to stop. (I have the same problem at the buffet.)My father also had that problem. He was a painter. He mostly did landscapes. He would produce these beautiful scenes in oil of a rolling countryside or a forest with trickling creek and the sun streaming through the trees. As a kid, it was endlessly fascinating to me to watch a white space slowly turn into some colorful new world. Once the basic form was finished, he would go to work on the details. He would paint tiny green leaves, then go back and add highlights, representing the light from the gleaming morning sun. Then maybe a few drops of shimmering water on the leaves. The world on that three by four foot canvas would continue to grow and change.Only, every once in a while, as he was tinkering with his creation, he would realize that he'd gone too far. He'd added too much detail. The whole thing became too busy and the overall effect was lost. He ruined his creation by not knowing when to stop.When that happened, there was nothing he could do but tear the canvas off, flip it over and start a new painting on the other side. (Hey, canvas was expensive and my father wasn't going to waste any.)I've had to learn the same lesson. I can't just ramble on and on anymore. I'm only telling you this so that you understand why my column this week is so short.So anyway, my column this week is about……oh, I ran out of room.

Lee Morey

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