3 ms·
A lot of good writing advice in this memo: The key person to think about is the reader. People generally read only one screen and SELDOM read more than two sc
by pdog 6y ago
A lot of good writing advice in this memo:
The key person to think about is the reader.
People generally read only one screen and SELDOM read more than two screens. (A screen typically is around 300 words.)
A long story on a complicated topic can save readers time if it replaces the need to read a lot of short ones.
Readers either want to have a quick piece of information or something that justifies the longer read.
A good rule of thumb is that stories should either be shorter than 400 words or longer than 900.
Taking 700 words or 800 words to make a single point will just annoy readers.
Keep it short. Think of the reader.
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoAnd, if it's going to be 900 words, then in the first 400, you'd better make it clear that you've got 900 words that are actually worth my time to read. You make it clear, not by telling me that you've got something relevant to say, but by demonstrating it.
- ghaff 6y ago>A good rule of thumb is that stories should either be shorter than 400 words or longer than 900. I'm not sure the evidence supports that. The online tech pubs I write for (not news stories), posts/articles tend to be in the 800-1200 word range. Shorter than that and it's hard to get into a topic. Longer than that and people stop reading (as supported by data). If you need 3,000 words, the advice is to turn it into a series. Shorter may be OK if you're just communicating a fact and no background is needed. Although standard journalism practice would be to hit the new stuff in the first few paragraphs and add more content in inverted pyramid style that provides context.