As it’s December, I’ll tell you the story of the greatest headline I ever saw.
It was the Christmas edition of a Royal Opera House magazine. 25 years ago. And its power was so great that to see it once made you detective Auguste Dupin in ‘Murders In The Rue Morgue’.
Because like Dupin, able to anticipate the silent thoughts of his friend as they walk, those who saw the headline were suddenly transported into the mind - no, the life - of the sub-editor.
It was to be a star-studded Christmas season. There were special carol recitals, & a gala performance of The Nutcracker.
This, this was special. And the sub-editor had work to do. To make people take notice.
The problem was, the Art Director had already laid the cover out…
And the art director had left our cover-line sub-editor room for… 3 words.
#royaloperahouse #editing #subeditor #writing #christmas #headlines #music
As every sub-editor knows, this is a Tricky Situation. Art directors secretly feel that the right no. of words on any cover is none. I was once told there was ‘too much copy’ before I’d put the copy on.
I asked what the Art Director meant, and he stabbed his finger into the name of the magazine.
People think a sub-editor edits, but mostly - heroes that they are - they hustle for more words.
And in this case, the number of words was three.
Three words.
What would you do?
Reference the whole programme? Carols? The Nutcracker? In just three words? In a way that would make people look?
Well, this sub-editor, the ACTUAL LEGEND, decided there was only one way to style out that kind of brief.
So there it was. On the stands. Huge.
WE THREE PLUMS.
I remember walking past a newsstand in Covent Garden with it on. The lights were twinkling and the late shopping crowds were out…
There was a growing group of people standing there, clustered around the stand, laughing at the magazine.
And somewhere, I like to think that sub-editor was raising a bottle of beer and thinking: Not every day. But today, we won.
We three plums. Fuck yeah. We three plums.
/end
#wethreeplums #subeditor #editorial #editor #editing #headline #christmas #hellyeah #Opera
Matt Potter