I

’m trying to write this column at 
Blue Leprechaun, a bar and grill 
on South University Avenue. 

A$AP Ferg’s “Plain Jane” is playing 
over the speakers and Bayern Munich is 
currently beating Borussia Dortmund 
five goals to nil. The other people at 
the table are enjoying their Saturday, 
camped out playing cards while waiting 
for Michigan men’s basketball to tip 
off in the Final Four against Loyola-
Chicago and Sister Jean.

I’ve been continuously asking people 

for ideas for this piece but I’ve shot 
down every one out of stubbornness. My 
sister just texted me a video of my dog. I 
feel like I’m actually doing a “stream of 
consciousness” piece like the ones I read 
in AP English. I remember reading those 
and not understanding one word of them.

I’m going to be honest, I had no idea 

what to write about in this column. Elise 
Laarman, my co-copy chief, and I pitched 
the Copy That series to our copy editors. 

No one signed up to write the April 4 
column, so I took one for the team.

My initial ideas included writing 

about how golf relates to Copy, how my 
alternative spring break experience 
connects to Copy, the joy of being 
an arbiter of words at The Michigan 
Daily and an examination of the 
future of copy editing. In the end, 
I’m not confident writing about any 
of these topics. Maybe this lack of 
creativity is why I’m a copy editor and 
not writing editorial columns or TV 
reviews. I mean, my predecessor wrote 
something similar in a previous Copy 
That article. Maybe it’s in our DNA.

I like to think I’m creative in real life, 

but just not in my writing. I can live not 
being creative in my writing — I don’t 
aspire to write the next great American 
novel. The only idea about which I could 
write a lot is golf and Tiger Woods, but I 
need at least 2,000 words to do that and 
it still would have way too much going 

on. But here we are. My 800 words on 
golf and Tiger Woods are lying in a 
different Microsoft Word document 
saved as “Copy That.” This is “Copy 
That Two.”

I realize this is turning into the 

ramblings of someone who wasn’t meant 
to write a column. Angela Lin wrote in 
her Copy That article that it was never 
meant to exist. I understand that.

I initially wanted to join Opinion when 

I came to The Daily before I was steered 
to Copy. Imagine my columns. I have deep 
respect for our columnists.

My friend Matt Harmon writes the 

“Soundtracking” column every other 
week, and it’s incredible. But that makes 
sense. That’s his passion. He loves to write. 
I love sports, politics, barbeque chips, 
my Co-Copy Chief Elise Laarman and, of 
course, editing. But writing is not editing 
and it requires a whole different set of skills.

This whole process reminds me of 

Michael Scott in “The Office” episode 

when they have to make a local ad. Scott 
says, “Has anyone told you you’re not 
creative? That’s outrageous. I love this 
place!” Michael Scott has my back. I’m 
much more appreciative of being a copy 
editor now and not having to worry 
about creative content every week. Arts 
and Opinion and the Statement can 
handle this creative content stuff. I’ll 
stick to being a copy editor.

I feel like I’m stealing this from 

Matt too. He wrote a “Soundtracking” 
column about not knowing what to 
write about earlier in the semester 
and I enjoyed it very much. I just want 
Matt to know I’m not stealing this 
format, but rather it’s an homage to his 
creative work.

Sadia Jiban wrote a wonderful Copy 

That column about how copy editors 
see what others don’t. It’s a very true 
sentiment. As a copy editor, I now see 
why I am not a writer for our paper.

Elise Laarman wrote a great piece on 

styling her hometown of St. Louis. Sadly, 
there is only one way to style Houghton, 
MI so the nice piece about home is out 
the window.

I’ve thought about what I’m going to 

do after my time as copy chief and I’ve 
thought being a columnist would be fun. 
Right now, it’s not sounding super fun.

I’m starting to think I pass over ideas 

because I want the perfect idea and 
then the perfect column. But that’s not 
possible. You can write good, even great, 
columns, but not perfect ones. With 
copy editing, you can edit perfectly for 
style and facts. AP Style is definitive 
and facts are indisputable. Not to say I 
edit every piece perfectly but it’s more 
attainable. I had to hand this column off 
to Elise for some editing and she gave 
me this analogy: Creating something 
out of nothing is hard. Like mining for 
diamonds. Writers dig the rock, editors 
polish the gems.

Well I’ve hit my word count and 

I am going to close out this column. 
Ironically, my own column will hit my 
desk on Tuesday night before print on 
Wednesday. Hopefully I won’t leave too 
many copy notes for myself.

2B

Managing Statement Editor:

Brian Kuang

Deputy Editors:

Colin Beresford

Jennifer Meer

Rebecca Tarnopol

Photo Editor:

Amelia Cacchione

Editor in Chief:

Alexa St. John

Managing Editor:

Dayton Hare

Copy Editors:

Elise Laarman

Finntan Storer

Wednesday, April 4, 2018// The Statement 

Copy That: Waiting for Michigan to tip off

statement

THE MICHIGAN DAILY | APRIL 4, 2018

BY FINN STORER, COPY CHIEF

ILLUSTRATION BY BETSY STUBBS

