Unique online writing formats

Unique online writing formats

Blogs offers the closest comparison to print newswriting, particularly the column form. Not all blogs need be first-person opinion, indeed, the best blogs, like the best columns, are built upon strong original reporting. But a great blog offers a distinct voice that grabs the reader's attention and draws them into the piece. Blog writers must draw upon their personal life experiences and sharp observation skills to put their reporting into a context that their readers will understand quickly and intuitively. And, oh yeah, it helps immensely if those bloggers can do this in minutes and several times a day.

Wikis are the ultimate in online "writing by committee." The natural comparison to the print world here lies with the copy desk, revising and clarifying the work of others. Of course, wikis should not be derivative, and require writers who can blend fresh information seamlessly into the existing article. Of all formats of online writing, this might be the toughest to do well. I continue to suggest that newsrooms should make more aggressive use of wikis to bring new readers up to speed on news stories, and to draw more search engine traffic into their websites.

Discussion boards have stymied newspaper websites for years, but allowed solo web publishers to build immense audiences online. The best discussion leaders take the skills of a great interviewer and apply them to their online communities, writing with a style that acknowledges and builds upon previous comments, sustaining the momentum of threads and eliciting knowledgeable responses. Smart, personal and well-informed words help these writers make their readers feel that they cannot possibly spend even single day away from the conversation.

Feed writing t akes the traditional print skill of headline writing into a new medium, where the primary goal is not communication within a defined number of spaces on a page, but writing heads and decks that elicit clicks, forwards and "Diggs" from as many readers as possible. A print headline strives to get people to keep reading the article underneath, but a feed headline faces a tougher challenge: to get the reader to click through to an article from an RSS feed or e-mail, or, better yet, to motivate the reader to forward that link to others via e-mail, instant message and/or social bookmarks.

What are some the specific skills that online writers can employ to distinguish their work in these formats? As my class suggested, traditional qualities of great newswriting still apply: active voice, clear construction and careful vocabulary. But what else?

How to write for the Web

Whether you are writing a blog, wiki, discussion post or traditional article, following a few basic tips can help you win more readers... and their respect.

Online writers can communicate with their readers in many more forms than the traditional news article. Blogs, wikis and discussion boards dissolve the barrier between writer and reader, creating a more informal and interactive writing environment. Take advantage of this opportunity and distinguish yourself by writing in a clean, active, conversational style that will make your readers feel as comfortable reading your words as they feel when talking with a close friend.

Blogging

Great bloggers speak with informed, personal authority through an honest, lively voice. Their posts often engage readers in a productive conversation through comments posted to the blog.

To write a great blog, write about what you know – your passion, well researched and reported. Employ the skills of a news columnist, crafting a personal, first-person voice that readers will find engaging, comfortable and honest. When you don't know something, do not be afraid to admit it. Great bloggers see their posts as the first comment in a conversation, rather than the final word on that particular topic.

Wikis

Wikis are the ultimate exercise in "writing by committee." Avoid blogging's first person and blend your edits into the tone and flow of the existing article. Wikis, typically, are not the place for personal opinion and analysis. Present the facts and acknowledge controversies in clear, clean and neutral language.

Discussion boards

Running a good discussion board is like hosting a radio talk show. Don't ask "yes" or "no" questions. Solicit personal anecdotes. Understand that people need to vent and ramble from time to time, but work to bring the conversation back on topic before flame wars erupt or fickle readers click away. And, above all, keep the momentum going.

No one person can maintain a discussion board 24/7. You'll need help, from both your board members and your software. But you can set an example with thoughtful comments and questioning that other board members can follow.

General tips

The shorter, the better: Readers appreciate writers who do not waste their time. Simple, direct language communicates your thoughts more efficiently than your bloated demonstration of all that stuff the rest of us slept through in English class.

Active voice: "Do it," don't "will have been done" it. Reserve passive voice for situations where you don't know the subject, such as crime and court reports. But even then, try to cast as much of the action in the active voice as you can.

Strong verbs: The best verbs demonstrate action. If you're writing a string of weak linking verbs, think about the action that's happening in your post, then rewrite a new draft using nothing but nouns and verbs in an attempt to better engage your vocabulary.

Attribute sources: If you don't tell your readers where you got your information, many of them will assume that you are just making it up. You aren't, are you? Attribution brings you credibility, because readers know that you've got nothing to hide if they want to check you out.

Contextual hyperlinking: Online narratives should allow readers to "branch off" and click through to other, more detailed, supporting content, depending upon a reader's level of interest. Almost all journalism refers to other sources, but online, a writer has the ability to link readers directly to those supporting sources. Note the URLs of those sources when reporting, and work those into your piece with contextual hyperlinks.

Try to link those URLs to the relevant proper names, keywords and phrases, rather than to the URLs themselves written out, or worse, the over-used "click here."

Use formatting: Break up that boring mass of gray type by using:

§ lists

§ bold headers

§ blockquotes

§ and other handy HTML formatting tricks.

One topic per URL: If you are using a contextual ad system on your site, such as Google's AdSense, help the program select the most appropriate ads for your page by limiting each URL to a single topic. Don't write "catch-all" blog entries or discussions covering a wide range of subjects. Break those out on their own, separate URLs and you'll get better targeted ads, and better ad click-through rates.

Easy to read: No block of text more than five lines on the screen.

b With both an automatic checker and a manual re-read. Beacause no won wants to look like an idiot.;-)

Text Formatting

Short Paragraphs > A 100-word paragraph looks pretty long on a Web page. Long paragraphs send a signal to the reader: This will require effort. The writer expected you to have a lot of spare time. Sit down and read awhile. Short paragraphs send a different message: I'm easy! This won't take long at all! Read me!

Chunks > Size does matter.

Headings > The heading at the top of the page should make absolutely clear what the page contains or concerns. The text under the heading must not repeat the heading information (see redundancy, below right).

Subheadings > If the page text exceeds 300 words, subheadings will help the reader scan the page efficiently and happily.

Boldface > Depending on the content, words or phrases in boldface can help readers find what they want. Combining boldface and subheadings could lead to visual noise, so do not overdo it. Combining links and boldface text in the same paragraph could have the same unsightly result.

Lists > Numbered, bulleted or other indented lists help the reader make sense of the information on the page. In many print contexts, lists would look ugly and thus are not used. On Web pages, lists work well in almost all contexts. Like paragraphs, lists appeal more to the reader when they are short.

Text Content

Brevity > Write tight. Omit all unnecessary words.*

Sentence Structure > Be straightforward. While a meandering introductory clause may seem like a good idea to you, the reader might stop reading -- before she gets to the heart of your sentence.

Active Verbs > It is easy to write with passive verbs (am, is, are, has, have). Using active verbs makes the writer work harder -- but the reader benefits. The writer also benefits, because the reader stays interested. Passive verbs bore readers. Bored readers leave.

Say What You Mean > Try saying it out loud before you write it. We tend to speak more directly than we write. We get to the point more quickly, too, when we can see the listener's eyes glazing over.

Redundancy > Reading the same information twice wastes a person's time.

Links

What They Say > Link text should not break any of the rules given for text (at left). A link must give the reader a reasonable expectation of what she will get when she clicks. Linked phrases such as "click here" or "Web page" do not provide helpful information.

What They Do > A link that does not open something or take the user to a new Web page seems to be a broken link. When the link will take the user to a different place on the same page, or open a media player, give the user a cue.

How They Look > A long phrase (more than about five words) can be hard to read, or just ugly, when underlined and/or in a highlight color. Links that are not underlined and do not appear in a different color from the surrounding text are almost impossible for the users to see.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04