Writing for the web in 300 words
All you need to know about web writing in under 300 words. From my Wordcamp NZ presentation.
- Start straight away. Don’t waste time warming up.
- Reduce barriers between your ideas and your audience.
- Write clearly. Use readily understandable language. Be unambiguous.
- Learn grammar. Forget what teachers said about long words making you look smart. It isn’t true.
- Instead use simple words, grammar and sentences. It is harder to go wrong.
- Go easy on adjectives and adverbs.
- Spellcheck.
- Try to imagine your reader – an ordinary bloke or woman. Write for that person.
- Use ‘be’ verbs sparingly to make your writing more interesting. Use them even less in headlines.
- “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.” Most people think it was Mark Twain; it was Blaise Pascal, a French Mathematician.
- Keep sentences short; up to 20 words. A 15 word sentence limit is better.
- Keep paragraphs short; usually one to four sentences. Only use more if you need to.
- Use plenty of full stops and line breaks. Use lists and bullet points. Be generous with crossheads (secondary headings).
- Highlight keywords with bold or italics.
- Writing is story telling.
- Summarise your story in the headline.
- If you write an introduction use it to tell readers what your story is about. Expand on your ideas in the following paragraphs.
- Write so you can cut the story at any point yet readers have the maximum information.
- Aim for short and crisp. Online readers tire after 200 words and start dropping out at around 300. Keep most stories below this length although you can write longer pieces.1
- You can find longer explanations of all these points elsewhere on this site.
My presentation from WordCampNZ in 300 words.