Mar 17, 2010
Web-writing tip: Rewrite paragraph intros to add value for skimming readers.
Like this post?
Increase the value of long articles by making them worthwhile for readers who only scan the first five words of each paragraph.
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© 2012 Abuyo. All rights reserved.
I agree.
It does raise all sorts of philosophical questions…
1. In the age of the internet, do we actually have more to read than before?
2. Do we only “skim” read now, and no-one knows how to read “in depth” anymore?
3. Is there so much pressure to “produce” writing on a daily basis (or more), that we lack the ability to write thoughtful writing?
Long Live the Classical Education!
Lowell
“Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text”
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nation_shudders_at_large_block_of
Ha. Another closet Onion fan emmerges into the open.
(or is that immerge?)
It’s emerge.
(Hello, my name is Steffi, and I am a compulsive know-it-all. Sorry about that.)
Nothing closeted about me. The Onion rules.
I’d already scheduled tomorrow’s post (Thursday, Mar 18) when I read this, but I’m trying an experiment with sidebars or more accurately, text boxes.
I have a guy doing a guest post for me and since that gave me some extra time, I started thinking about how I could draw readers into his article, since there was no obvious photograph or graphic.
Bullet points are the key. I “read” 40-60 blogs a day. Needless to say I skim a lot. So I look for bullet points. I LOVE bullet points!
BTW, two blogs that I really read: 22 Words (for obvious reasons) and Uphill Both Ways (because the writing is so darn good!). Just sayin’ :-)
Oh, shucks! It’s Downhill Both Ways, isn’t it? Sorry!
Lowell’s mention of reading “in-depth” and Richard’s preference for bullet points may seem contradictory — but they shouldn’t!
If our society regained the ability to read and analyze a _single sentence_, then you could rewrite the majority of today’s popular non-fiction books as one carefully-constructed bullet point per chapter.
Bleh.
If you can say everything in five words, then you shouldn’t write the article.
“A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is.”
Apparently I read online material for the story.