Forum Moderators: not2easy
1. Use concise text - sticking to short keyword rich statements that support the theme and present the key information.
2. Use bullet points to emphasize important points
3. White space is your friend
My points?
1. From journalism school, I say, write a killer first sentence. That first sentence means everything. It has to crystallize, summarize and set forth the rest of the text. I could go on and on about leads. Put A LOT of thought into those lead sentences/paras. I have half-dozen rules about leads.
2. Break up your paragraphs into 1-3 sentence. Nobody likes to see long blocks of prints. Their eyes glaze over and their heads roll.
3. Use enlarged, emphasized, quote boxes to recharge the readers as they pour over your text. But only, 1 or 2.
4. The biggest problem I see as a webmaster and editor for other sites, the sites owner/writer made the assumption that all viewers would know everything he/she was talking about. In many cases, this is not so and you have to write for an audience that is uneducated in your area. If you have to go more in-depth, make sure you are crystal clear in your explanation.
5. "Hey, what is wrong with quotes," Dr. Radiosky said. You see quotes in the papers, but not enough in web content. Quotes add authority, power, and grab the readers attention and pull them in more.
6. With a degree in journalism and one in creative writing, over 1,000 articles in print, I can tell you the number one problem with new writers today is they are too sensitive. Correct their papers and they freak out. Hey, I remember my early college years when there was so much red ink on my Pulitzer Prize winning papers it looked like somebody got shot. The fact is, nobody writes a perfect paper the first time. Or the second time. Or even the third time.
The reason is simple. We get so "into" what we are writing, that we don't see the obvious errors. Only an outside reader can see them. Don't be afraid to have your work edited and don't be afraid to take their advice. Get over your self-inflated ego. You are not Hemmingway.
7. Tackle web-content writing like a journalist would. If you call yourself a content writer and haven't read a college newswriting textbook, then you are depriving yourself. The newspaper "formula" works on the web with slight modifications.
8. In the magazines at the check out stand, you always see covers: 29 Ways to Please Your Man, 56 Christmas Decorating Ideas, 10 Worst Cities to Live In, 25 Ways To Show Your Love, etc. - Why do you think "those type" articles are so popular? They are easy to digest and give the feeling that you are getting a lot for the $4 for the magazine. It could change your life. Hey, as a former journalist, those are the easiest type articles to write. All it takes is a 1-3 sentence intro, the bulleted items, and a summary.
9. Don't rehash and rewrite somebody else's content. Interview people yourself. Write your questions down before hand, pick up the phone and call an authority on the subject. Don't be lazy. Offer something original. If the person you ask says they want to see the article before it is written (this will happen a lot) do it. What the hell. They might save you from looking like a fool.
10. It's been said before, I will say it again, tone down the hype. It's amateur. Instead, use the soft sell and answer any counter arguements with both emotional and logical arguements.
Books I recommend: To name a few:
1. The Elements of Style - Strunk and White
2. The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How To Avoid Them by Judy Delton - A must read.
Read those two and it will get you on the right track. Next time you read a newspaper or magazine article, DO NOT READ THE ARTICLE, read HOW IT IS WRITTEN. Big difference.
Thanks for reading my post. I didn't mean to get "diarehea of the pen." Another problem writers have.
Radiosky
Lewis, for those who haven't heard of him, is a career copy-writer who has succeded in every medium you can think of - from direct mail fund raisers through telemarketer scripts. And naturally, website and email copy.
He's updated the second edition of this book to include lots of web-specific pointers. But, even his off-the-web chapters are chock full of useful tips, pointers, laws, and guidelines.
Steely and spongy words
Live or dead words
Words that have too much power for ad copy
When to use a dash - when to use an elipsis ...
Using "edutainment" to get repeat website visits
Words that act as motivators
And there's lots more where that came from - each of these topics is merely a sub-head!
I had a college course in creative writing where the professor taught that "The price of clarity in writing is that you will offend somebody."
I think people back off into passive contructions because those sentences are softer and more non-committal -- passive sentences take fewer risks they offend less often. Of course, they also come across as bland, they don't don't awaken any reader involvement and they surely don't motivate conversions.
For me, passive sentences are the equivalent of sprinkling your speech with "like", "you know", and "um". Or inflecting every statement as if it were a question?
A tip of my own is to always look to trim down your writing and remove redundant statements and words. 'Both' is a good example - 'we supply both blue and red widgets' should be 'we supply blue and red widgets', period.
Padding was ok when you were writing 5000 word essays at university but tight copy is readable copy!
trim down your writing and remove redundant statements and words. 'Both' is a good example - 'we supply both blue and red widgets' should be 'we supply blue and red widgets', period.
I agree very much - but we also need to be careful that the words we cut are TRULY redundant. There are times when a bit of expansiveness adds character and impact to our copy. For example:
Customer service beyond expectation - before and after the sale.Customer service beyond expectation - both before AND after the sale
Particularly when we are writing to persuade -- and not just to inform -- we should take care not to trim our sentences down to a bland vanilla.
Or better still, do the pruning first. Then look for oppportunities to lightly expand and increase our copy's power and voice.
Related thread: Word Expansion [webmasterworld.com]
Haven't read the whole thread, but here's a few of mine:
1) be as concise as possible
2) always use bold text headers (same font size) to enable scanning on long text passages
3) chek ur speling (that's 'nuclear', not 'nucular')
4) Put those keywords in the right place
As I am researching other topics on the web, I run across sites that just make my eyes roll and I mumble unflattering statements about these misguided webmasters. Their presentation is bass ackwards, confusing, under-explained with misleading links, the content is weak and obviously a rehash.
Which lead me to state my partially on-topic pet peeve.
When I look down at my gray downloading bar and it says, "29 items remaining" I get mad and hit the stop/back buttons.
Give me well displayed content - not eye candy, bells and whistles. If I have to wait 45-90 seconds for a page to download 43 images, I am gone. In fact, I don't like to put more than 3-5 images on my web page. Most don't have any or only 2 minimum.
My point, don't let eye candy be a substitute for well-written content displayed in a professional manner. Eye candy might have it's place, but it is not why people come to a site. They want information. They didn't come to see fancy graphics, flash, 400x600 pixel images and 13 off topic super animated banners.
Make your site look professional but remember the other KISS principle. Keep it simple stupid. Maybe I am the only one who has low tolerance for slow downloading useless eye candy (and god forsaken pop-ups with more eye candy) that is being substituted for content - but I just can't envision a wife researching breast cancer on the net and she calls out to her husband, "Oooohhh, wow! Hey honey, come over here and look at this exquisite navigation bar!"
Okay, sorry. I'll get off my soapbox now.
