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." "Yamhill’s new high school … [Read more...] about Who rocked our one-sentence-story contest?
Cut Through the Clutter
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. Given more space, you can do a better job of making your copy more valuable and entertaining, which encourages readership. But everything else being equal, your readers prefer a … [Read more...] about Add words, reduce readership
May writing contest: 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. Samples: "News that Powell's Books and Rogue Ales are collaborating on a beer infused with actual pages of Moby Dick raises the … [Read more...] about May writing contest: One-sentence stories
Drop the buzzwords
Write hype-free news release heads instead On my desk is a New Yorker cartoon where a CEO is talking to his PR executive. He says: “Here it is, the plain, unvarnished truth. Varnish it.” Well, I’m advising you to skip the varnish, especially in release headlines. Four problems with hype Why skip the varnish? Reporters hate it. Bloggers and journalists want us to … [Read more...] about Drop the buzzwords