Writing Tips: Short and Sweet to Keep Them in Their Seat.
by: Ronovan
Some writing is just too long and I won’t read it no matter how good you tell me it is!
It sounds harsh but it’s true. And it’s not because you’re not good. There are many types of audiences out there a writer is attempting to engross in their story, article, or whatever other type of writing it may be. Even a research piece needs to keep this in mind.
- Make that first sentence engaging-If that first sentence hooks me I might keep going and give it a chance.
- Keep the paragraphs short-Short paragraphs gives me this false sense of not committing to a long read. It also allows me to pause quickly if need be and come back to the article if I have to ‘step’ away for a moment.
- If Blogging give me some visuals-Visuals make for a little something to keep me there and bring me back to reading. It also can help visual people click with your piece.
- If Blogging keep this in mind-You may be the only reading material that some people are engaging in. I have problems reading books now. I can’t commit to it because I know after two chapters I can’t keep going. Blogs, however, give me something I can read and learn from that are quick and to the point. Break the article up into two parts if it is extremely long. That last part is just a suggestion. (But it might bring back people for a second day of viewing to your Blog. Authors keep that in mind too.)
Unless I am really familiar with the work of the writer I will often bail if I see those long paragraphs. We aren’t in a Grammar class or Writing class where you have to do things just so.
- We write how people talk
- We write short paragraphs
- We use double negatives
If you are Blogging think of Flash Fiction in your article. Just get to the point and get out. Yes, add humor and entertain, but when it comes to the points you are making don’t draw them out.
Short and Sweet to Keep Them in Their Seat.
© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 03, 2014.
ronovanwrites 
Yes, I agree. Short and sweet – some people like myself want to read quite a few blog post in the few minitues that we can spare for reading blog posts.
Sometimes it is a little difficuilt to keep the word count down, but alas I try. If things get too long, one could also split one topic into two blog post entries. I try to keep my posts under 1’000 words – and mostly I suceed. 🙂
What do you think is the readable length of a blog post?
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It really depends on the topic and the layout. I try to go for under 600 words in most of mine if possible, My mind see’s 800 on a post and it gets tingly and starts to ache. But I click and begin to see.
If you use bullet points, and visuals then word count can go up a bit. Give me a pretty picture that pulls my eyes down to want to move onward and I’ll keep going. 🙂
I try to keep mine short but that might be because I just don’t have that much to say. 🙂
Thank you for the comment. Keeping it under 1000 is a definite must for me to want to view a new to me Blogger.
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#Truestory
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I concur. 🙂
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Nice tip..
The challenge I often find is that the train of thoughts sort of just flowing endlessly.. And it’s hard to decide when to break it and save it for other part.
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I totally agree!!
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I guess practice makes perfect.. Let’s practice more 🙂
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I’ve seen suggestions that if it’s a blog just break it. But in writing a novel or story it’s more difficult. If you vary the lengths of the paragraphs that works as well. Short ones in a novel can get monotonous so it’s okay to throw in a longer one at times and really if it’s called for then do it.
Just in blogging you can throw a visual in the middle of a long paragraph, or if it is something that is making points, break it up by bullets.
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You are right.. I did that in some of my previous posts too.
But I also notice how other bloggers do it without any visual at all. The key -I noticed- is that their choices of word might make the long paragraph more engaging for the readers. Probably that’s just me, I’m no expert……….yet 🙂
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🙂 If you engage the reader early then they will follow you through War and Peace as long as they trust you. 🙂 Notice that when you read posts in the future. If you know a blogger is great you’ll trust and read, but someone who is not hitting it to begin with you might trail off and click out.
And no one is really an expert! We all learn. 🙂
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Oh wow, I didn’t realize that.. I indeed find those bloggers I mentioned are actually the ones look highly upon (like yours).
I even actually google-ed on how to arrange the “blogs I follow” so I can let other visitors to be able to reach out to them. But sadly it’s not possible..
Well I’ve learned something new again today! Thank you. 🙂
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Reblogged this on ronovanwrites.
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I agree! Many times, I will scroll through a blog post to see how long it is before I begin reading. I write a lot of short stories for this reason as well.
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