Length matters. Any lady who tells you otherwise is lying. Of course, the problem is, longer isn’t always better. It is about having the right amount for the job at hand.
Arti Mulchand, formerly a journalist from SPH, shared some pointers on how to write right at the event hosted by the folks from Ogilvy.
Two of the pointers:
Don’t waste words.
Short paragraphs; and short sentences.
Probably the most famous example of how austerity in words does not hinder the telling of a good story is the following six words by Hemingway,
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
The six words story is a sub-genre of flash fiction.
Googled and found these positively delicious sites:
http://www.sixwordstories.net/
http://www.flashfiction.net/
There is a twitter account for Sixwordstories.
Lots of great ones:
Computer becomes conscious. Immediately commits suicide.
Met at antiwar rally. Still fighting.
God creates Universe. Realizes mistake. Hides.
Bury the hatchet…then the body.
If you have any six words story to share, why not Tweet it and tag it with #sixwords.
Notes:
The complete list of pointers to Write Right:
- Have an opinion
- Say something they don’t know; or say it differently
- Tell stories
- Hook with the headline and the first paragraph
- Write how you speak
- Emotions beat emoticons
- Details, details, details – show, don’t tell
- Don’t waste words
- Edit yourself
- Short paragraphs; and short sentences
- Don’t SCREAM
Aaron Koh | 19-Mar-09 at 12:55 pm | Permalink
During my days at online media company from Australia, I was taught to keep it everything short and sweet.
Lead paragraph should be as short as possible in one sentence.
Limit 3 sentences per paragraph.
This is because when you read off the white screen, your eyes and brains process it differently from reading it off white paper.
Hence, when traditional Media cut and paste articles written for print online, it is easy to lose interest in the article.
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