Attribution Anxiety

A long distance between subject and verb creates separation anxiety in the reader.

   Question: How long should a reader wait between a subject's name and a verb indicating what he or she says or does?
   Answer: Not long, yet some writers insert many words, phrases and commas between the two.
   Result: The reader has to puzzle out of memory the who or what before connecting to the action or the quote.
   Example: Abercrombie Gidznick, 37, secretary of the Construction Engineers of America, New Jersey Chapter 17, and former president of the National Association of Industrial Designers of the U.S., yesterday said ...
   Worse: After all that introductory stuff, the writer finally gets around to indicating what Mr. Gidznick said.
   Solution: Start the sentence with the quote, then add "according to" and string out as many attribution phrases as you like.
   Remember: The important thing is what was said, then who said it.
   Hint: While the Verb-Subject construction may be technically correct according to the grammarian's rules, few people actually talk that way. And never use "aver." It's not a verb people generally use when talking, averred he.
   Bottom line thought: Who are you trying to impress? I know, the pronoun should be "whom," but I'm not trying to impress youm.
   Just because you can doesn't mean you should.