The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

M« r~FREpRESS, EDNESDAY, APIL 17,1991, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN Y h.WhitbyLgh Abut sixyars ago, the. then-editor cf tbpFr..b P Promu Michael KnilI, approached me with a question. Woud i bo interested inwrtn a weokly coumn for tii.Fr.. Pross.. Whatevor you want," h. roplied. "WeII givo you a regular spo, yu tix~ upwhat to write about." MichIeulnil now holds down an .ditqr's chair with Maclean-Huntor ini Toroto. Two or threo oditors later, %m still her., weekly punching out 750 words. This w.ok, give or take a fow woeks, makes number 300. At a dollar aword, rd now b.rich. Duigthat strotchi4i have written columnu b~y hand; on tho rickety omcputer ystem at the. Toronto Star (during boring stretce after midnight); on three different computers at home; and on cardboard scrape in the. basement study cf a wonderful house in Mount Herbort, P.E.I. (and faxed to, Whitby from LJ downtown Charlottetown). oun Today, we will use the. computer ta help compose thecoun_______ _________________________ Well, not exactly compose. To help odit. (Editorseshould at this point break into a cold sweat. Ready, Maurico?) I rocently had accese ta a computerpora called ightWriter. This program will assese writing, pointt clichés, weak verbe, long sentences and a few other weaknesses, and suggest remedlies. It wMl also rate prose for readability, strength and description. (Io it terse or floweiy?) Okay. Now w. save it, computer style, and run the deathiess poethrough the. RightWriter program. The output looks like -. tps About six years ago, the. then-editir f the Wbitby Free Prese, Michaël Knell, approached me with a.question. Woud I (Pi. la question mark missing?] ,b. mnterested [& 1 Passive voice: be-intere8te.lin writing a weely column for The Fre. Press. "What on?' Iasked. [G2. 18 t/ais a complete sentence] "Whatever you want," he -roplied. 'We'll give you a regular spot, you think up [U2. Collqiü elaetzn p by think of what to write about.]" Michael Knell now holde -down an editar's chair with Maclean-Hunter in Toronto. Two or three editors later, Fin stil here, Woekly punching out 750 worde. Thie week, gv or take a few weeks, makes number 300. At a dollar aworted, Ynow be rich. Duriiigthat strotch, I have written columns by hand- on the ricketyold computer system at the. Toronto Star (during boring stretches mfter midnight); [P4. Semicolons oeparate independent r ~clauses] on threo different computers at home; and on. : cardboard seaps in the. basement study of a wonderful houa. in ..7 Mount Herbrt,, PEL [G3. Spli into 2 sentences?] [S3. Long sentence; 47 worda] (and faxed ta, Whitby fhom'd ntw Charlottetown).TH RYLHTiip10 Today, we .ilutth optr ohl odoeteMun h oylattdeindb TorontoamcIntect Henry Làangley, was officially opened on St. WeII, not exmctly compose. To help dt. (Édtera shouldaa tinspoen brek mt a olds &Xt(6.Clisché: coic ieuwcat]. George5Da, April 23, 1873, and wms operated by James Pringle. It was built ta epac an tbispoin bMaurice?) a sd wetarlber Hc>teÏl which burned down in 1872. Sir John A Macdonald, Canada's ir5tprime RweyMrce ?)yia coet cmue rgm ae minister, made a speech at the Royal Hotel in 1877 in support f Ontrio uouth MToas RgTWrtr fùp gmmw esswiig pitotcihs N ib fOhw Descriptive indfe.v. 0.45 0.1 0.5 0.9 1.1 t***I***I***I I ii iI II II I75 YEARS AQO Tre1----Normal ---------I Wordy fr-om the Thursday, April 13, 1916 edition of the Thae use of adjctives and adoerbs is normaL WHIIZY GAZETTE AMD CHRONICLE *Froderick James Gibson of New York City, who was born in Whitby, bas subxitted a Jaron index: 0.0 Whitby song ta the. Gazette and Chronicle. *A delegation from Dundas, Ontario inspected Whitby's new sewage disposai plant last Sentence structure ,ecenmendationa: week. la BNo recommendat ions. a *Fred Howard Armes says Whitby could become on. of the. model towne of the. world with its provincial mental hospital now under construction. Wil such programe replace teachers? I doubt it. But as a. tool e David Maclaren cf Ottawa, who maies hie summer home at Inverlynn," Whitby, ched on for teachers and writers, they will become invaluable. April 7 at the. mgo cf 67. RightWiter, incidentally, is a trademark of RightSoft, bIc. The program iscopyrighited. (Grade 6 reading level, eh? Hmnim.)