The world's worst typos – in pictures

From The Guardian: "A new book details the crime de la creme of typographical errors, from hotel brochures advertising a 'French widow in every bedroom' to political banners declaring President Obama's 'crisis of competnce'. Here are some of the finest."

Early in 2010, Gregorio Iniguez, managing director of the Chilean Mint, was sacked after he authorised the production of 1.5m 50-peso coins that spelled the country's name 'C-H-I-I-E'. By the time he was kicked out it was too late; the coins remain in circulation to this day.

You can take a look at some of the other typos described in the book here. (Thank you for the tip-off, Faye D'Souza.)

• Also read: "Headline headaches and other bloopers".

A five-star book, all the way

A worthy winner of the Man Booker Prize. A worthy sequel to a Booker winner (Wolf Hall, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading two years ago). And the reason I'm now reading The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory, on my Kindle Fire. And the reason I also want to read The Wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser.

• In The New York Times: Charles McGrath on Bring Up the Bodies: Hilary Mantel, "the novelist who's always reinventing herself". And Christopher Benfey on Wolf Hall: "Both spellbinding and believable".

A college newspaper professional journalists will be proud of

The second issue of The Chronicle, produced by the First Year students of Commits, arrived on the evening of October 16 — and what a brilliant issue it is!

Congratulations are in order to all who made such a HUGE effort to ensure there's something for every reader on every page. This eight-page issue (with a two-page "Commits Chronicle" section) not only looks good but also "reads good".

The First Years have raised the bar — again!

Three cheers — and two thumbs up — for the co-editors, writers, layout artists, photographers, illustrators, proofreaders... and everyone else who provided moral support and encouragement.

Hip-hip-hurray!

And now to take a closer look at the newspaper:

ON PAGE 1 (see below)
1. A must-read inspirational lead story by Second Year AVC student ANKITA SENGUPTA, an inspiration to women everywhere. I salute her courage in doing what she did and then agreeing to write about it. (I want to add here that her interview with Lesle Lewis in the previous issue of The Chronicle was something a professional journalist would have been proud of.)

2. A gutsy and thought-provoking piece by NATASHA REGO on "18 Again" and other so-called "woman empowerment" products.

3. SONAKSHI NANDY's personal take on sharing her Facebook password with her mother.



ON PAGE 2 (see below)
An unusual heart-felt feature by NINNITA SAHA on the advantages — and disadvantages — of being an only child. Plus, two stories continued from the front page.

ON PAGE 3 (see below)
Four intelligently written articles that combine wit, irony, and sarcasm. And the topic? Men and women and the gender wars. And the writers? ABHILASH PAUL, ANJALI SURESH, SONAKSHI NANDY, and RAJARSHI BHATTACHARJEE. And the accompanying illustration, which is the best I have had the privilege to publish in the college newspaper EVER, is by SNEHA SUKUMAR.

ON PAGES 4-5 (see below)
1. A report by ANKITA MITRA on the exciting quiz conducted at Commits by senior media professional and veteran quiz master Pratibha Umashankar.

2. The three co-editors — MAITREYA J.A., NATASHA REGO, and SONAKSHI NANDY — share their experience of working on their first issue of The Chronicle.

3. "Notable & Quotable" — interesting highlights of events and happenings, at Commits and in the lives of Commitscions.

ON PAGE 6 (see below)
1. "Aftertaste convinces you that power can blind any human being. Even a mother." POORVI KOTHARI reviews Namita Devidayal's best-selling novel.

2. Manga fan(atic) SAUMYA IYER gives us the lowdown on the Japanese comics that have gained popularity the world over.

3. RAJARSHI BHATTACHARJEE reviews How Will You Measure Your Life?, a book that will help you to "understand what counts".

4. The editors pick the books they love — and the books they don't. (They know how to stoke a controversy, don't they?)

ON PAGE 7 (see below)
1. Think seriously about playing Scrabble on Facebook and doing something useful on the social networking site — for a change. That's good advice from MAITREYA J.A., who elaborates on this theme in the lead piece.

2. The always popular "Horror-scope", written in limerick form this time by LEANNE PAIS and SAUMYA IYER. Read the dire "predictions" to understand why this column is called "Horror-scope".

3. Check out the Clueword, put together by MAITREYA J.A. — give your grey cells a light work-out.

ON PAGE 8 (see below)
1. Yes, girls love playing video games. And they love blowing up things, too, ANKITA BHATTACHARJEE and RISA MONICA KHARMUTEE tell us.

2. A first-hand report by SWATI GARG and LYNSIA PATRAO on why playing Laser Tag is "a lot of fun".

• YOU CAN ALSO READ THE CHRONICLE ON THE COMMITS WEBSITE HERE.

Now, back to ANKITA SENGUPTA's incredible Page 1 story and the many encouraging comments that have been pouring in. Here are a few of them:

Commitscion NEHA MEHTA KOTHARI (Class of 2010): Read Ankita's story and I must say hats off! Girls like her should be a big deterrent to those who misbehave with women. I'm so proud we have people like Ankita around. I hope all the Commitscions will take some inspiration from her and teach the "over-smart" guys a lesson.

VENKATESH BALIGA (Software professional): WOW! Very Happy to know that JHANSI KI RANI still exists.

SANJAY BHATT (Seattle Times journalist): Wow. She showed some guts to stand up to this and even more to share her story with the public. Thanks for sharing.

Commitscion MONIKA KHANGEMBAM (Class of 2012),  posted on Ankita Sengupta's Facebook wall: Sweetie, I just read your piece in The Chronicle and I must tell you I am so proud of you! What you did was exceptionally brave and trust me many of us cannot muster that courage. Be brave, strong and smart, as always. All the best. :)

SHAGORIKA EASWAR (Senior journalist and editor of two Toronto-based magazines): Oh, wow! Good for Ankita! There aren't too many young girls/women who would dare do what she did — for the reaction she provoked is all too common. The victim is made to feel dirty. We have all heard/read of the revictimisation that goes on and the initial reaction of the bystanders and cops sent shivers down my spine. But the spunky kid stood up to them all alone at that. It's easier to feel brave with a back-up. Give her a big high five from me!

CHANDRAN IYER (Senior journalist, former editor of Mid Day, Pune): Wonderful. India needs more such women.

SPUNK AND BITE: ANKITA SENGUPTA

MARIANNE DE NAZARETH (Senior journalist and Commits guest faculty): Good for you, girl! More power to your pen and to your empowering of women who would normally have backed off and kept quiet.

ASHISH SEN (Communications professional, theatre personality, and Commits guest faculty): Congratulations, Ankita! This IS inspiring. 

VASANTHI HARIPRAKASH (Independent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and media trainer): Damn good one! Here is a promising journo.

AMIT NAIK (Pharma professional): Atta Girl!

JESSU JOHN (Communications executive): Yes, atta girl. Very proud of you.

VIDYA NAYAK (Homemaker): God bless you Ankita. You have made all women proud!

Commitscion ANKITA BHATTACHERJEE (Class of 2014): This is one awe-inspiring article!

Commitscion ARPAN BHATTACHARYYA (Class of 2010): Good on you, Ankita. And I'm glad you didn't leave all the reprimanding to the police. A nail is a small price to pay.

RAJEEV GUPTE (Merchant navy captain): A girl full of guts and grit.

MAIMUNA MOTAFRAM (Homemaker):  Am so proud of Ankita. May other girls learn to emulate her in similar circumstances and stand up to such reprehensible behaviour with the same courage and guts.

• Along with pursuing her Master's at Commits, Ankita Sengupta has been working as a freelance journalist with Deccan Herald. Like the good professional she is, Ankita knows she has to deliver the goods; if her commissioning editor wants her to write about fashion trends, then that is what she will write about. So last month, Ankita turned in a piece about shrugs. This month, Deccan Herald published her feature on jeans; and she has just submitted, at the commissioning editor's request, an in-depth piece on how women can get ready for work in a jiffy. At the same time, she is hoping to publish her story about dragging the molester to the police in Tehelka's "Personal Histories" section. We wish you all success, Ankita!

A birthday tribute to the best teacher of writing ever

Regular followers of The Reading Room will be familiar with Dr. Mardy Grothe. They will also know that I subscribe to the good doctor's "Quotes of the Week" e-newsletter.

Today's newsletter contained, among other things, this gem on William Zinsser, the legendary author of that legendary guide to writing nonfiction, On Writing Well:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

By Dr. Mardy Grothe

On October 7, 1922, William Zinsser was born in New York City (he celebrates his 90th birthday this week). After attending Princeton University, he served in the U. S. Army during WWII. After the war, he achieved a lifelong dream when he was hired by the New York Herald Tribune. For the next 13 years, he worked as a feature writer, drama editor, film critic, and editorial writer. He left the paper in 1959 to pursue a freelance writing career that ultimately produced books, magazine articles, and columns for Look, Life, and The New York Times.

In 1970, Zinsser joined the faculty at Yale University, and it didn't take long for his classes on nonfiction and humorous writing to become some of the English Department's most popular courses. In 1979, he left Yale to become executive editor of the Book-of-the-Month club, a position he held until 1987. For the past 25 years, he has been a freelance writer, an occasional jazz pianist at Manhattan jazz clubs, and a part-time instructor at The New School and Columbia University.

WILLIAM ZINSSER'S BEST-KNOWN BOOK HAS SOLD MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES.

Zinsser has authored 17 books on a variety of subjects, but he is best known for On Writing Well, a book that grew out of his writing classes at Yale. Originally published in 1976, the book has appeared in numerous editions, selling well over a million copies (it is my all-time favourite book on writing). If you're not familiar with the book, I highly recommend it. And if you ever become interested in writing about yourself and your life, you'll do yourself a big favour if you check out his 1987 book, Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir and his 2004 book, Writing About Your Life: A Journey Into the Past.

Zinsser's observations on writing are among my favourite quotations. Here's a baker's dozen of his best:

Writing is thinking on paper.

Thought is action in rehearsal.

Too short is always better than too long.

There's no sentence that's too short in the eyes of God.

Never forget that you are practising a craft with certain principles.

Never let anything go out into the world that you don't understand.

What I want to do is to make people laugh
so that they'll see things seriously. 

Hard writing makes easy reading. 
Easy writing makes hard reading.

There's not much to be said about the period
except that most writers don't reach it soon enough.

Don't ever become the prisoner of a preconceived plan.
Writing is no respecter of blueprints.

Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not
the subject being written about, but who he or she is.

Be yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere.
Try to commit an act of writing
and they will jump overboard to get away.

Conclude with a sentence that jolts....
The perfect ending should take your readers
slightly by surprise and yet seem exactly right.

In 2010, at age 88, Zinsser began writing a weekly blog ("Zinsser on Friday") for The American Scholar. After nearly two years and 82 posts, he recently brought his blogging career to an end. But his posts are all archived and available for your reading pleasure here: "The Complete Zinsser on Friday".

WILLIAM ZINSSER NOW HAS HIS OWN WEBSITE.

• Additional reading: Michael Dirda, author of Classics for Pleasure, a book I prize, took over William Zinsser's column in The American Scholar. Read Dirda's tribute to Zinsser here.

• Also read: "William Zinsser, my idol, my hero, my guru".

In the New Yorker — "Citizens Jain: Why India's newspaper industry is thriving"

Call it coincidence. Call it irony. Just a day after I published a post about the late Arthur Ochs Sulzberger of The New York Times ("A newspaper publisher like no other"), I learn from Outlook editor Krishna Prasad's blog that another venerable American publication, The New Yorker, has devoted a nine-page article to The Times of India and its owners, Samir and Vineet Jain.

Read Krishna Prasad's post here: "Samir Jain, Vineet Jain and TOI in The New Yorker".

And you can read the New Yorker article here: "Citizens Jain".

• Also read: "Paid news and the influence of newspaper owners". 

• Additional reading: An insight into the ingredients of great writing from The New Yorker. 

• EXTERNAL READING: On April 27, 2013, Mint, too, provided evidence of the appeal newspapers have for Indians:

 Take a look at Mint's photo essay here: "Newspaper Nation".

• UPDATE (May 7, 2013): The New Yorker has just published a letter by the executive editor of The Times of India regarding the "Citizens Jain" article. Read the letter here.

A newspaper publisher like no other

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher (owner) of The New York Times, died on Saturday at the age of 86.

Reading his obituary and the other articles remembering an extraordinary personality, I could not help but wonder if such a publisher exists in India.

Here is an excerpt from the tribute written by a former Times editor, Max Frankel:

[Punch, as everyone called him,] was a media mogul who never ordered an article to be printed or deleted from the news columns of his paper. In a quarter-century in which I reported directly to him, he never once summoned me to his office to complain about our journalistic decisions. As he always insisted, The Times sold not just news, but judgment about the importance and interest of news, and once invested in his choice of subordinates he wanted them to feel secure in their labors, comfortable with their judgments. He had our backs.

Read Max Frankel's appreciation here: Punch Sulzberger and His Times.

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger in 1992, the year he relinquished the position of publisher to his son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.  The portrait in the background is of his grandfather, Adolph S. Ochs, who bought The New York Times in 1896.

Here is a telling passage from the column written by Arthur Gelb, who joined The Times in 1944 as a copy boy and retired in 1989 as managing editor:

Punch’s punctuality could feel like a reproach. In 1951, as part of Punch’s training, [managing editor Turner] Catledge had arranged for him to spend two weeks with me when I was a beat reporter at the Municipal Building. When I arrived there at 10, my regular time, Punch was waiting for me.

The next morning I arrived at 9:45. Punch was already there. The third day I arrived at 9 and there he was. Defeated, I went back to my normal arrival time.

Punch shared my love for the ambience of that old newsroom. When the newsroom’s brass spittoons were declared obsolete, he claimed one and later installed it in the den of his Fifth Avenue apartment. As publisher, he sometimes waited for the paper — still warm to the touch — to be brought up from the basement presses.

Read Arthur Gelb's column in its entirety here: "A Newsroom and a Beloved Publisher".

Nicholas D. Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Times columnist, also remembers Punch fondly and recalls his leadership style, which is something Indian newspaper proprietors (I can think of one in particular) would do well to emulate:

In a newsroom of titanic egos, often clashing, he was typically gentle and his concern was the paper rather than himself. I remember one occasion when the Times was publishing a brutal article about one of his close friends: he read the article in its entirety the day before publication, but never asked for a word to be changed. He picked the best editors, and then left the journalism to the journalists.

You can read Nicholas D. Kristof's remembrance here: "Punch Sulzberger, R.I.P.".

For the complete obituary, which also gives us an insight into the workings of a legendary institution, go to "Publisher Who Transformed The Times for New Era".

• Photograph courtesy: The New York Times/Burk Uzzle

• Additional reading: "Talk to The Times".

• Also read: WHAT A CONTRAST — "Paid news and the influence of newspaper owners".

"There are some stories TV can't do"

NDTV anchor Sunetra Choudhury's "After the Break" column in DNA on Saturdays usually provides food for thought. Today was no exception.

Headlined "Crimes 'unfit' for TV", Choudhury's column puts the spotlight on a major difference between television and print — there are some stories that TV can't do. In fact, the article begins with that admission before revealing the nature of the "crime":

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been pursuing this story that involves sexual harassment, courts and lawyers and at the end of this period, that’s the frustrating conclusion I am left with.

We then learn details of the many sordid cases that have led to women lawyers moving the Supreme Court to end harassment in our courts.

Conversations with women lawyers reveal how deep-rooted the problem is. Senior advocate Kamini Jaiswal told me several instances where no action was taken despite complaints. “The junior lawyer who comes to a senior’s chamber is very vulnerable,” said Jaiswal, “She is very young and it is difficult for her to even raise her voice. If she complains against a respected, senior lawyer, who will believe her? Her entire career is at stake.” Jaiswal, who was the only lawyer who didn’t mind being quoted, told me how judges were inaccessible for junior lawyers, especially because they were friendly with the senior ones. Do all women lawyers go through this, I asked. “Many of them do,” she said.

Choudhury, though, does not elaborate on why this case won't work as a news story on television. If you ask me, I would say there are at least two reasons for this:

1. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to get people to speak on camera.
2. TV news relies heavily on "dramatic" visuals, which are unobtainable here. "Re-enactment" is possible, but then the whole story would be one long episode featuring actors, and that won't do.

Perhaps journalists, especially those working with our news channels, would like to add their comments.

You can read Sunetra Choudhury's column in its entirety here: "Crimes 'unfit' for TV". And you can check out her previous columns here.

• Illustration courtesy: Ravi Jadhav/DNA.

Is there a secret to writing effective e-mails, letters, reports, and proposals?

Yes, there is, says Richard Nordquist, an American professor emeritus of rhetoric and English and the author of two grammar and composition textbooks for college students. Writing on his blog on About.com, where he has served as the Guide to Grammar and Composition since 2006, Nordquist provides his top 10 editing tips for business writers:

• Adopt the "you attitude".
• Focus on the real subject.
• Write actively, not passively.
• Cut unnecessary words and phrases.
• But don't leave out key words.
• And don't forget your manners.
• Avoid outdated expressions.
• Put a cap on the buzzwords.
• Unstack your modifiers.
• And, of course, proofread.

Each tip comes with an example.

Here, for instance, is the example provided with the admonition to avoid outdated expressions.

Draft: Attached herein for your reference is a duplicated version of the aforementioned deed.
Revision: I have enclosed a copy of the deed.

As for putting a cap on buzzwords, you will understand immediately what does not work when you read Nordquist's example:

Draft: At the end of the day the bottom line is that we should facilitate opportunities for employees to provide input on best practices.
Revision: Let's encourage people to make suggestions.

Read the post in its entirety here: "Top Ten Editing Tips for Business Writers".

And while you're at it, study Nordquist's Top 10 Proofreading Tips, too.

• Additional reading: "Bad grammar, poor punctuation: a sure recipe for disaster at your workplace".

When to choose good writing over good grammar

In 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing (a slim but valuable book which I purchased for a mere Rs.263 on Flipkart this week), Gary Provost makes a convincing case for choosing good writing over good grammar:

"It is my objective to utilize my management expertise more fully, than has heretofore been the case" is acceptable grammar but poor writing because it is poor communication. The sentence should read, "I'm looking for a better job."

On the other hand, "I ain't got no money" is terrible grammar but could be good writing in some context by communicating exactly what the writer wants to communicate.

There are many writing situations, Provost asserts, in which inferior grammar makes for superior writing, and he provides an appropriate example from a comic novel.

You could also use poor grammar, Provost tells us, in an essay or opinion piece to establish a certain tone:

"Marvin Hagler and Ray Leonard go at each other tonight in the Centrum, and it ain't going to be pretty."

So, yes, it may be okay to use poor grammar deliberately, but, Provost warns, whenever you knowingly use poor grammar, you should ask yourself two questions.

The first: Is my meaning clear? If the answer is no, rewrite.

The second question: What am I getting in return for the poor grammar? If you can't answer that, don't use poor grammar.

That is great advice. I also love what Provost has to say towards the end of this passage (which is part of Rule No. 10: Prefer Good Writing to Good Grammar in the chapter titled "Ten Ways to Avoid Grammatical Errors"):

Never violate a rule of grammar unless you have a good reason, one that improves the writing.

But never choose good grammar over good writing.

I have read many, many books on writing and grammar but this is the first time I have come across such wise words with respect to both writing and grammar.

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing, in addition to the excerpts presented above, has much to recommend it. And I endorse it wholeheartedly.

***
UPDATE (June 7, 2014)

"This is a must-read for all freshers"

By Ankita Pareek, Class of 2016

A big thank you for suggesting this book to me.

ANKITA PAREEK

I never knew a book could answer all my queries related to writing (even the ones I thought were stupid and cannot be asked). From explaining what to write and when, and also where and how, the book covers it all.

I am glad I read this book. I now have the confidence to write and have also started realising my mistakes and rectifying them. This should be a must-read for all the freshers like me who aim to be writers but are unaware of the basics of writing.

There is one section in the book which I thought was brilliant, "Eleven ways to make people like what you read". I have written a lot of poems but I've never had the courage to make people read them as I always hated the thought of getting a "critical view". But now it's not the same; I finally showed my work to a few people and they didn't really criticise what I had written but, to the contrary, they made me aware of my mistakes. I have already started writing more poems now.

I guess I now understand what you actually mean when you say "You have to be a good reader to be a good writer". Thank you once again!

***
ADDITIONAL READING:

• "V.S. Naipaul's advice for beginner writers"

• "How to avoid being a grammar goof"

• "Bad grammar, poor punctuation: a sure recipe for disaster at your workplace"

• "Want to learn how to write a sentence? (Who doesn’t?)"

• "In one place, everything you need to know about writing in English"

How a great cartoonist does what he does

Did you know each cartoonist who freelances with The New Yorker, that storied magazine founded by Harold Ross in 1925, is required to submit 10 panels a week for consideration (nine of which typically get rejected)?

How do they do it? How do they come up with so many original jokes?

Well, thanks to Jeff Bercovici of Forbes, we know how one great cartoonist does it. In an interview with Matthew Diffee, who draws cartoons for The New Yorker and other media organisations, Bercovici draws out the essence of a cartoonist's light-bulb moment. We learn that Diffee parks himself at a table for the first hour or two of each day — however long it takes him to drink an entire pot of coffee — and forces himself to free-associate on a blank sheet of paper. That means writing, not drawing:

Diffee says his cartoons always start with words, not images. Typically, he’ll take a phrase that’s lodged in his mind and tweak it this way and that until he comes up with something funny or hits a mental dead end. By the time he fills up the paper, he usually has at least a couple workable ideas.

Here is a Diffee cartoon from a recent issue of The New Yorker:

“I’m sorry, Paige, but grades are based on the quality of the writing, not on your Klout score.”

Diffee also demonstrates how he does what he does in a brief (less than five minutes) video interview with Bercovici:

You can read the Forbes interview here: "New Yorker Cartoonist Matthew Diffee Shows How To Be Creative".

And take a look at a collection of New Yorker cartoons here.

• Additional reading: An insight into the ingredients of great writing from The New Yorker.

• Also read: "A man whose genius for cartooning matches his flair for wit" and "Hadi Farahani, the most brilliant illustrator and cartoonist I have met".

• Plus, meet the R.K. Laxman of England, Matt of The Daily Telegraph: "There’s no cartoonist like Matt. With his sharp humour and kind touch, he expertly captures the absurdities of everyday life. No wonder our readers start the day with a smile" — A tribute by Mick Brown.