Story length

The release is dead

Long live the release Twitter has never issued a news release. Amazon introduced the Kindle through a series of tweets. Google announced Alphabet via a blog post from Larry Page. It's not just the tech companies: Canada — yep, the country — sent out its last traditional news release on Dec. 31, 2013. Now, it offers social media releases instead. Is the … [Read more...] about The release is dead

Three ways to streamline sentences

Cut a word, increase comprehension Here's the problem with long sentences: Every time you add a word, you reduce comprehension. Let your sentences sprawl, and the subject, verb and object get too far away from each other. Your readers have to fly to JFK to pick up the subject, Uber to Chelsea to grab the verb and hightail it to the Upper East Side to find the object. … [Read more...] about Three ways to streamline sentences

How is editing like closet tidying?

Audition your words to go in, not out When Lynn Wylie, aka Best Sister Ever, sent me an Unfancy blog post arguing that all you need to look great every day is a capsule wardrobe of 37 items per season, I scoffed. After all, Dear Reader, Aunt Ann is a maximalist. I love Jessica Harper's quote in Pennies From Heaven: "It's not the money; it's the stuff!" My jewelry … [Read more...] about How is editing like closet tidying?

Create more short pages

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. Usability experts John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen studied Web visitors' performance with two versions of a website: One site contained three pages with 4,500 words. The … [Read more...] about Create more short pages