HOW TO WRITE AN EDITORIAL COMMENT THE ENTIRETY OF OUR PART OF THE ISSUE, SAID THE GUYS
AT ADAM&EVEDDB, IS A ‘HOW TO’. FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, THEY SAID, IT’LL BE
A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO SURVIVING THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY. “AMAZING IDEA,” WE REPLIED. THEN
MATT AND MARK, THE EDITORIAL MASTERS OF THIS GUEST-EDITED ISSUE, ASKED ME TO PEN THE
‘HOW TO WRITE AN EDITORIAL COMMENT’ FEATURE. I IMMEDIATELY AGREED, OF COURSE, DESPITE
SUGGESTING THAT, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, NO ONE HAD NOT SURVIVED LIFE IN THE ADVERTISING
INDUSTRY DUE TO THEIR INABILITY TO WRITE AN EDITORIAL COMMENT. “THEMATIC, INNIT,” CAME THE
RESPONSE. BUT THEN I THOUGHT, HOW EXACTLY DO YOU WRITE AN EDITORIAL COMMENT? I KNOW
HOW I WRITE ONE, BUT IS THE WAY I WRITE ONE THE WAY TO WRITE ONE? HIGHLY UNLIKELY. OKAY,
SO, HOW DO I WRITE AN EDITORIAL COMMENT? WELL, USUALLY THE EDITORIAL COMMENT IS THE
LAST THING I WRITE FOR THE ISSUE AND USUALLY IT ONLY GETS WRITTEN BECAUSE OUR ESTEEMED
ART DIRECTOR STARTS SENDING ME POLITE EMAIL REMINDERS ABOUT FILING THE COPY A FEW DAYS
PRIOR TO US GOING TO PRESS. THEN SLIGHTLY LESS POLITE EMAILS. THEN SHE ESSENTIALLY STARES
ME DOWN ACROSS THE DESK, UTTERING ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLE THREATS OF WHAT SOUND LIKE
VIOLENT FORCE, UNTIL I’VE DONE IT. THE REASON I DRAG MY HEELS IS BECAUSE I OFTEN FIND THE
COMMENT QUITE HARD TO WRITE. WHERE DO YOU START? THERE’S NOTHING TO WRITE OTHER THAN
WHAT’S IN MY HEAD, AND MOST OF WHAT’S IN MY HEAD ISN’T WORTH THE EFFORT OF TYPING OUT.
IN FACT, I’VE DRAGGED MY HEELS WRITING THIS, TOO. “YEAH, I’LL GET IT TO YOU NEXT WEEK”, WAS
WHAT I TOLD THEM. THAT WAS AT LEAST A FORTNIGHT AGO. BUT ULTIMATELY THERE ARE TWO WAYS,
I THINK, OF APPROACHING AN EDITORIAL COMMENT; THERE’S THE THEMATIC ONE AND THEN THERE’S
THE CONTENT ONE. THE THEMATIC ONE TAKES A VIEW ON A PARTICULAR EVENT OR TALKING POINT
THAT’S COVERED IN THE MAGAZINE AND ATTEMPTS TO EXPOUND ON IT. IT COULD BE ABOUT FASHION
ADVERTISING, OR POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, GENDER DIVERSITY ISSUES OR THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE
OF THE INDUSTRY; WHATEVER IT IS, ADDING SOME (HOPEFULLY) USEFUL INFORMATION AND/OR
PRÉCISING THE KEY POINTS MADE BY A SELECTION OF THE PEOPLE QUOTED WITHIN THE ISSUE IS
THE MAIN AIM, MAKING YOU WANT TO READ THE PIECE IN FULL. USUALLY, IF I’M HONEST, I TRY TO
START WITH A JOKE. WELL, ‘JOKE’ MIGHT BE STRETCHING IT; A HUMOROUS ASIDE THEN. USUALLY,
IF I’M HONEST, I FAIL HORRIBLY AND SOMEONE CROSSES IT OUT ON THE PRINTED PAGE AND WRITES
SOMETHING BETTER (PROOF, IF IT WERE NEEDED, THAT SURROUNDING YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE
WHO’RE BETTER THAN YOU IS THE KEY TO GOOD MANAGEMENT). IF YOU’RE LUCKY, SOMEONE’S
ALREADY REWRITTEN THE ‘HUMOROUS ASIDE’ AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. THE CONTENT APPROACH
IS A BIT EASIER. IT’S BASICALLY A LIST OF WHAT’S IN THE ISSUE, A VERY BRIEF EXPLANATION
OF A FEW OF THE MAIN FEATURES AND THEN THE PAGE NUMBER OF SAID ARTICLE. THAT APPROACH
USUALLY HAPPENS WHEN THE ART DIRECTOR’S TOO DISTRACTED OR BUSY TO THREATEN ME AND,
WITH AROUND 15 MINUTES LEFT TILL WE GO TO PRESS, A GLORIFIED LIST IS ALL I CAN COME
UP WITH. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, A SHOTS EDITORIAL COMMENT IS A MIX OF THE TWO,
WHERE I’VE ENTHUSIASTICALLY STARTED WAXING LYRICAL (OR, AS THE SUB-EDITOR MIGHT SAY,
‘WANGING ON’) ABOUT SOMETHING BUT THEN GOT SIDE-TRACKED AND FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.
I ALSO, QUITE REGULARLY, TRY TO TIE TOGETHER THE START AND END OF THE COMMENT.
SOMETHING WITTY AND URBANE THAT MIGHT ELICIT A WRY SMILE FROM THE READER OR
A NOD OF APPROVAL FOR THE LINGUISTIC DEXTERITY. USUALLY I CAN’T THINK OF ANYTHING IN
TIME AND THE COMMENT ENDS QUITE ABRUPTLY. BY DANNY EDWARDS EDITOR @SHOTSMAG_DAN
Design & illustration by King Henry London