Who Are You Writing For?
Are you writing for your guests or yourself?
I know my answer and that is I am writing for my guests or my friends at WA. So I have to write it in such a way that all those reading it can understand it. I hope everyone is writing for their readers and not for themselves.
It is not just the style of writing that has to be attended to, but also the font, font-size, font- weight graphics and use of color. You also need to pay attention to the layout and the amount of white space on your page.
Have you ever come across posts that contain no white space. I know I have, but these I just delete without reading. For me the same goes when everything is in bold or in uppercase.
Perhaps you don't really understand the need for white space, or perhaps it is not a term you have heard of.
If you look at this post you will see it is broken up into paragraphs. The gaps between the paragraphs and sometimes at the end of sentences are called white space.
Certainly as our bodies age and our eyesight is not quite so good we need these breaks in the type to allow us to read it clearly.
I advocate the use of colors, bold and italic text when you want something to stand out but not for the whole of the text. The use of graphics or photos to break up the text is also a good idea. I picture paints a thousand words in many cases.
If you look at this page you will also see the paragraphs are quite short. I personally tend to try to keep my paragraphs to 3 lines, but I will go up to 4 or 5 if the subject matter dictates that.
What ever you do, keep to the subject and keep your readers interested.
Please like and comment.
Derek
Recent Comments
79
Good information Derek. I now want to go back and check how posts look on mobile. On mobile, everything is compressed even more so white space is even more important.
Michelle
Great advice. Whitespace, interesting copy, appropriate sub headers and just the right images all combine for a positive reading experience.
Great post because a jumbled up article with no white space is hard to read. Due to the fact the writer is going on and on without a break.
There are articles that are philosophical and I find difficulty in giving a comment so after reading I will just leave the website.
To me, those articles are for the intellectuals or I may say the deep thinkers who are not bored with ideas.
In the online market, we need simple words that everyone who goes on the internet will not find difficulty in understanding what product they are offered.
Excellent reminder.
Hello Derek,
I note that you have very clear how to write texts correctly, I would like to know your opinion of a recent tutorial that I just published related: Tips for writing text on your website Many thanks!
Claudio
Spot on Derek! Perfect post and a great source of information. I gotta have lots of white space. These old eyes can't take the dark!
Great job as always. Top of the morning ta ya.
Joe
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Great advice Derek. Your copy needs to be user-friendly.
Michelle also makes a good point about mobile. Sometimes an article looks good on the desktop, but when viewed from a mobile device it takes on a completely different look.
Cheers,
Michael
Thanks for your comments Michael.
Derek