Write for the eye as well as the mind
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Writing well is important, but so is making it look easy to read. Huge chunks of unbroken text just looks too scary, too long and too much like hard work. Pay attention to format and appearance – because it’s likely more people will read what you’ve written.
Transcript of Write for the eye as well as the mind
Source: otocarsgallery.com
Writing well is important, but so is making it look easy to read. Huge chunks of unbroken text just looks too scary, too long and too much like hard work.
Pay attention to format and appearance – because it’s likely more people will read what you’ve written:
1. Give it a headline – grab your readers’ attention. Without one, no matter how good your writing is, chances are it won’t be read.
2. Keep paragraphs short – whenever you see a long paragraph try to break it up into two or more short ones.
The more paragraphs you use the more whitespace there’ll be in your text, making it more inviting.
Like this one here.
And this one.
3. Harness the power of numbers – they capture both attention and keep the reader oriented.
4. Use bullet points –
• They’re easy to scan
• They provide a visual break for your reader
• They draw attention to important information
• They communicate information quickly
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WRITE FOR THE EYE AS WELL AS THE MIND
5. Use upper and lower case – CAPITAL LETTERS may seem like a simple way to make text stand out – in fact they make text harder to read and are best avoided.
6. Add emphasis by formatting – put important points in bold or whole sentences in italics.
It makes it easy to scan and pick out the most important informa-tion at a glance.
7. Subheads break up large masses of type – they keep your reader engaged, acting as ‘mini headlines’ and keeping them moving through the rest of your text.
8. Use captions with images – they’re consistently some of the most-read text on a page. Make them long enough to intrigue your reader to dig further.
9. Don't indent paragraphs – separate paragraphs with space, rather than indents. It looks neater.
10. Single spacing between lines – double spacing between paragraphs.
11. Use white space – there are fewer ways to make your text more readable.
By adding lots of white space it lets your copy breathe. It says read me. I’m not hard work.
12. Add colour images – if a picture is worth a thousand words, why not use an image? What better way to break up large blocks of grey copy than by adding photographs, illustrations, charts or diagrams.
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James Hurford | Corporate Trainer Call: +27 (0) 742 545 881
Email: [email protected] Website: www.passion.za.com
LinkedIn: za.linkedin.com/in/jameshurford/
© 2014 James Hurford. Passion. All rights reserved. Where possible an accreditation has been given to the source of photography and any original content used. In some cases this source could not be
found. If you know the original source and would like an accreditation, please get in contact and I’ll post one for you.
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