ch shall lead up to and explain those following and
at the same time add to the reader's interest. Some papers as yet admit
only rarely the story developed climactically, but it is growing in
popularity and the reporter should know how to handle it.

=97. Important Details.=--With the climactic order of arrangement
eliminated, the reporter is practically limited to the simple time
order, or a combination of it with one of the other two kinds,--which is
the normal type of story. But he must keep in mind one other factor,--to
place the most important details first and the least important last.
There are two reasons why this method of arrangement is necessary. In
the first place, readers want all the main details first, so that they
may learn immediately whether or not they are interested in the story
and if it will be worth their while to read the whole article. They are
too busy to read everything in the paper; they can choose only those
stories that excite their interest. If, therefore, they can learn in the
first paragraph what the whole story is about, they will not be delayed
and fatigued unnecessarily by reading non-essentials with the hope of
finding something worth while.

=98. Unimportant Details.=--The second reason for such an organization
is that stories appearing in the early editions have to be cut down to
fit into the more valuable and limited space of the later issues. At the
beginning of the day news is relatively scarce, and the front-page,
left-hand column of the first edition may carry a story that will be cut
in half in the city edition and be relegated to an inside page. More
important news has come in as the day has aged. A reporter, therefore,
must plan his stories with a view to having the last part, if necessary,
cut off,--so that, indeed, if the news editor should prune the story
down to only the first paragraph, the reader would still be given the
gist of what has happened. Note the following story, how it may be cut
off at any paragraph and still present a perfect, though less imposing
whole:

=SCHOOLBOY SUES BRIDE, AGED 40=

|Villisca, Ia., Dec. 27.--Claude Bates, 17 years old |
|and formerly of Villisca, has brought suit in Polk |
|county for the annulment of his marriage to the |
|widow Patrick, 40 years old and the mother of four |
|children, two of whom are older than their |
|stepfather. |