6 Ways to Be Kinder When Writing for Humans
y Derek Hatchard
The world contains far too much boring and tedious writing. This article is neither because it contains blindfolded typists. That’s right… blindfolds _AND_ typewriters. Now you just know this is going to be great.
In my last Crowd Space blog post on Tips to Get Your Group Noticed, I promised some follow up posts on several topics including Facebook fan pages, Twitter, blogging, and using Flickr. Before I get to those topics, though, I want ...
to talk (um, actually, write) about crafting your words online.
We live in an age of unprecedented writing according to Andrea Lunsford. In a recent Wired article, Professor Lunsford is quoted as saying that we are “in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven’t seen since Greek civilization.” Lots of people are writing lots of things. Unfortunately a lot of those people are writing some pretty bad stuff.
“young people today write far more than any generation before them”
- Clive Thompson on the New Literacy
“Too bad more of it didn’t suck”
- Derek Hatchard
When you are emailing friends about dinner plans, you really don’t need to tap your inner wordsmith. When you are writing on behalf of a group or organization, put some thought and effort into your writing. If, like me, you prefer that people actually read your words, it’s worth spending the time to produce decent writing. A few nuggets of wisdom I’ve harvested from writers much more talented than me:
1. It’s Not About How Smart You Are
When you write, your ultimate goal is to make the reader better. Your content informs, teaches, enlightens, empowers, or corrects the reader. The fact that you know how to use ten dollar words is irrelevant. Or as Grandpa would say: “Yes you’re very smart. Shut up.”
Kathy Sierra has been proclaiming for years that users (or readers) shouldn’t be thinking about YOU (http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/01/users_shouldnt_.html).
Some writers seem unable to stop themselves from making their prose about the writer instead of the reader. A student I once knew had a supervisor who told him to always write “utilize” instead of “use” because it sounded more academic (in other words, it makes the writer sound smarter). Most academic writing I’ve seen suffers from a writer’s desire to sound smart rather than communicate effectively.
2. Tell a Good Story
People like stories. Jesus taught in parables because people relate easily to stories. Primetime news shows feature individual stories rather than reporting on generalities. Oprah has built an empire on highlighting individual stories.
“…it’s not because they hate hearing about what your company is up to, it’s just that they hate the way you’re telling the story.”
- Muhammad Saleem
3. Use Headlines for Quick Scanning Readers
Muhammad Saleem at Copyblogger calls this writing for diagonal readers (http://www.copyblogger.com/the-10-second-rule/).
4. Be Brief
Edit your work down so you’re saying the most with the least amount of verbiage. ‘Nuff said.
5. Use a Human Voice
The incomparable Merlin Mann recently rewrote a brutal press release and turned it into something useful. Somehow we have come to accept that professional language (brochures, press releases, legal documents, etc.) must be difficult to read. Merlin’s rewrite of the press release is refreshing and you should check it out: For Immediate Relief: Speaking Like a Human (warning: if you’re super sensitive to cuss words, there are a few).
6. Make It Interesting
Make your content more appealing by tossing in some graphs, charts, or relevant images to keep things interesting. Visuals that speak to the reader’s brain are best, but even a vaguely related image is better than nothing. Humor (or even humour) also makes your content more enjoyable. Laugh out loud humor is great but not necessary; a little levity makes it easier to slog through a piece of text.
Now, as promised, some blindfolded typists:
(Photo credits: keyboard, typists)
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