The Reason Most Writing Is Never Read
Have you ever wondered, “Who reads this stuff?” Or how about, “Who wrote this awful copy!”
I have to admit that MOST of what I read literally bores me to death (my 1-second attention span doesn’t help!).
However, every once in a great while, I happen across something that grabs me by the eyeballs and won’t let go.
Here’s a few thoughts on why most content is rotten and the elements of engaging writing:
First let’s talk about the rubbish. Here’s what’s wrong:
- Immediate sale: Bad writing gives me no reason to stay engaged. Rather than easing into a topic, it simply assumes the reader is ‘up to speed’ on the topic at hand. “Get the Remco hair remover now by calling 800-We-Need-Your-Money.”
- Long winded: Remember those boring textbooks that had paragraphs that spanned multiple pages. The brain is wired for breaks and that’s why we have a carriage return on our keyboards. Try having a conversation with someone who can’t get to the point and you’ll understand why long paragraphs are boring!
- No logical flow: This may seem simple, but a story has a beginning, middle and an end. Too often poor writing is missing one of more of these basic elements. If you are selling video software, begin with the challenges faced by video folks, talk about how to solve the problem (the middle) and then tell reader’s where to buy the product (the end).
Here’s what is present in great writing:
- Stories: Trends, problems, history, examples and scenarios all help people understand and relate to your writing. Try and weave these throughout your work to keep people engaged.
- Lists: Especially in business writing, a list or bulleted sentences are very easy to read, create lots of white space and help organize complex thoughts.
- A tease: How about opening your work with a compelling statement or a few questions that bring the reader into your document. Works every time for me!
- Shorter paragraphs: Even a single sentence can become a paragraph. Try mixing up the length of your paragraphs, helping the reader speed through your work.
- Simplicity: Saying it with less words is always harder yet appreciated by readers. “She glared at him and said, ‘This is the last time I ask you!’ Little Johnny swallowed hard as the cold rice cereal began disappearing from his bowl.”
Let’s hear from you? What makes writing wretched? What are elements of eloquent writing?
Comments
Michael - You make great points about the challenges of writing and getting read.
Some of the things that I have seen as issues are:
1. Jargon - Tied to the point about simplicity and long-winded you make, jargon tends to make you lazy. You can use them as crutches instead of taking the time to crystallize what you want to say with minimal reliance on jargon.
2. Assertions - By this, I mean just stating things without some examples. These examples, should ideally be from a real-life customer, but you can use your imagination to create a pretty realistic scenario that is a composite of some customers. This helps to create the relevance of the content to the reader. It goes to the story-telling dimension of writing that you refer to.
Again, good post.
Vishy
Posted by: Vishy Gopalakrishnan | March 21, 2008 05:51 AM