Fewer long pages are less effective
Think index cards, not toilet paper: websites with many short pages — as opposed to those with fewer longer pages — work better.… Read the full article
Tight writing
All-time low
Americans average 19 minutes a day reading
The average American reads for pleasure less than 20 minutes a day, according to a new study from the U.S.… Read the full article
How small is small?
Mini narratives can be as brief as a paragraph
In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee shares this tiny tale:
“In 2005, a man diagnosed with multiple myeloma asked me if he would be alive to watch his daughter graduate from high school in a few months.… Read the full article
Take a tip from Norm MacDonald
#RIPRobinWilliams tweets show how to serialize your story
What can you learn from Norm MacDonald’s Twitter tribute (would that be twibute?) to Robin Williams? What can’t you learn?!… Read the full article
Write for the world
How to reach readers in the face of global illiteracy
How can you write for adults who can barely read? That’s what two Chicago academics — William S.… Read the full article
Use ‘narrative shorthand’
Squeeze a big life into a small space
How do you pack a large life into a tight space?
Try a “pocket profile.” That’s the technique Anjelica Huston used to describe her great-great-great grandfather in her new memoir, A Story Lately Told:
“… a prospector, John Gore, who started up several newspapers from Kansas to New York.… Read the full article
The (One-Page) Magazine
The New York Times goes brief
Talk about brief: The New York Times packs 13 stories onto its briefs page, called The (One-Page) Magazine.
Notice the combination of:
- One-paragraph profiles, trend pieces and new nuggets
- One-sentence reviews
- Charts (History, in Kardashians)
- Glossary items (This should be a word: Denigreet)
- Timelines (This one’s running across the top and down the right side)
- Infographics (This one’s running across the bottom of the page)
How brief are your briefs?… Read the full article
Add words, reduce readership
Longer stories lose readers faster
Size does matter.
Everything else being equal, your readers would rather read a short piece than a long piece.
Of course, all things are never really equal.… Read the full article
Who rocked our one-sentence-story contest?
Winner is witty, pithy and wise
Last month, I challenged you to model my favorite city magazine, Portland Monthly, and write a one-sentence story. Models included:
“News that Powell’s Books and Rogue Ales are collaborating on a beer infused with actual pages of Moby Dick raises the troubling prospect of 50 Shades of Grey-flavored absinthe.”… Read the full article
One-sentence stories
Can you finish your piece before you reach the period?
My favorite city magazine, Portland Monthly, runs five one-sentence stories per issue. Editors manage to cover the most Portlandish news of the month in an average of 26 words each.… Read the full article