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Nice demonstration!
Greatly helpful
out of 10
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The Biggest Reason People Aren't Reading What You Write
What's the reason? The answer is two words: paragraph length.
Written Dec 14, 2007, read 3550 times since then.
The answer is two words: paragraph length.
You want to use short paragraphs in your emails.
Really short.
You also want to use short paragraphs on your blogs. And on your website. And in your articles. And in your book. And in your email replies to interested people.
I'm not kidding. Because when you write really, really long paragraphs by email and they go on and on without stopping about every last thing you want to say, then it becomes this block of text that's hard to read and follow. Your readers become frightened to start the paragraph, and, if they do actually start the paragraph, they get lost in the middle and never reach the end. And if they never reach the end, then they never see the next paragraph and basically the gig is up, because they've missed the point of what you were writing about, and you may as well never have written in the first place. And, because you lose them as readers you never hear back from them, you've gotten no response and so you can start to feel frustrated. Then angry. Then sad. Then you begin to fill with despair and wonder if anyone cares about you at all, and whether you should even be in business, or even in the world. Maybe you should just give it all up and go get a job in a cafe. When, it's really not that bad, it's just because your paragraphs were too long. Make sense? Short paragraphs. No more than three or four lines.
'Nuff said.
Learn more about the author, Mark Silver.
Comment on this article
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Posted by Jeevan Ananadasakaran, Seattle, Washington |Jan 02, 2008 Perfect, I just learned something I'll use from now on.
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Posted by Gabriella Sannino, San Francisco, California |Aug 12, 2008 What I want to know is how were you able to write copy on here that was less than 500 words? Every time I try to post short articles I am told "not enough content" humm interesting copy though. :)
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Posted by Emma McCreary, Portland, Oregon |Aug 20, 2008 I had that same question, how did you get this published as an article?
But regardless, I'm glad you did. Super helpful.
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Posted by Marianna Paulson, Surrey, British Columbia Canada |Nov 15, 2008 Perhaps everyone is asking the wrong person.
Perhaps just because.
Perhaps this was so valuable it passed the censors.
At any rate, excellent suggestion, Mark, and so true in this world of sound-bites.
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Posted by Marlaine Cover, Encinitas, California |Feb 19, 2009 Nice..............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hugs Mama Marlaine Parenting 2.0 www.lifeskillsreportcard.com
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Posted by Dave Manningsmith, Sammamish, Washington |Feb 24, 2009 3 B's for C-level communication: - Be brief. - Be brilliant. - Be gone.
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Posted by Mark Silver, Portland, Oregon |Feb 26, 2009 @Marianna- somehow we slipped it by. :)
@Marlaine- glad you liked it, Mama. :)
@Dave- I love the 3rd part. That can be the hardest. As Michelle Shocked sang: "The secret to a long life is knowing when it's time to go."
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Posted by Zac Parsons, Evansville, Indiana |Jul 10, 2009 Really enjoyed this. Now, will I apply it to my writing? Let's hope so.
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Posted by Kristin Stahl-Johnson, Seattle, Washington |Oct 01, 2009 Curious that no one noticed that you were violating your own advice as you wrote?
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Posted by Mark Silver, Portland, Oregon |
Oct 01, 2009 Hi Kristin-
Sorry it didn't come across for you--it was meant as ironic humor. An illustration on-the-spot of why it doesn't work. I believe they did notice it, and perhaps they were chuckling along with me?
Did you read the long paragraph? Maybe it wasn't as funny as I thought it was...
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Posted by Pam Johnson-Bennett, CCBC, Nashville, Tennessee |Apr 11, 2010 Just came across your article. Wonderfully demonstrated. I love your sense of humor.
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Posted by Michael Hartzell, Seattle, Washington |Jun 27, 2010 Sorry. I can't seem to understand what you are saying. The second paragraph was much too long and my eyes were not able to read the lines or even between the lines. If only someone would invent special glasses to help read the computer screen. Then we could wear the glasses and read easier and faster. I think Steve Martin in the movie "The Jerk" invented a pair of great glasses. But then he got sued didn't he. If only you would speak more on the core reasons as to why you say what you say instead of just saying it to be so. This would improve the possibility of acceptance and make it not just your opinion. You know what they say: "Just cause you say it to be so, don't make it so." or the other one is "Trust but verify."
Reminds me of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and the ultimate answer to life. Do you remember? After about 7 million years, the super computer said it was "42" but could not remember the question.
thanks!
PS This also works well for making content that you don't want people to read. Long paragraphs will not be read. Later you can say: "I sent you that data, did you read it?" They of course say yes and that is a big fat lie. :)
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Posted by Stephen Monday, Monroe, Louisiana |Jul 08, 2011 Well said Mark.
Short sentences (as you demonstrated) have more impact as well.
Want copy that has punch? Follow the list;
Shorten sentences. Shorten paragraphs. Cut "wordiness." Be blunt. Yet explicit. No rambling. No rhetoric. Use adverbs. Be specific. Hire copywriters!
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Posted by Susan French, Tarzana, California |Jul 17, 2011 LOL...nuff said!
I still wonder about classical paragraphs and "on-the-fly, blog-type" paragraphs.
Can you comment?
Thanks.
Susan
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Posted by Elise Groves, Santa Rosa, California |Jul 20, 2011 Short and sweet! I like it! Very funny, too!
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Posted by Peter Rubel, Palatine, Illinois |Aug 05, 2011 There was a time in the English speaking world (B.C. = Before Computers) in which long sentences and sustained logical argument in long paragraphs were the norm for writers. And readers were expected to understand them.
Take the Federalist Papers, for instance. These legal and practical mazes ostensibly persuaded the farmers and their representatives of upstate New York to favor the ratification of what became the U.S. Constitution.
Or maybe they were bamboozled into believing.
P.S. So what exactly is the Information Age?
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Posted by Stephen Monday, Monroe, Louisiana |
Aug 05, 2011 Hello Peter,
In my understanding, the "Information Age" was born when I realized that I could type any question, about anything - into a Google search engine - and get quick, instant answers from the World Wide Web.
Albeit some answers are crazy-wrong; the majority of information online is fairly accurate. Source several queries and decide for yourself what amount of the info is "believable."
Broadband connections, world wide access, and high-speed computers gave birth to this era.
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