Thoraiya DyerShould your article be truly useful?
November 25th 2006 12:40
filed under THE VIRTUAL INK
I wrote about Toshiba's giant 360-degree helmet a few months ago. I couldn't find any information apart from a couple of sentences that said "Here's a ridiculously gigantic helmet from Toshiba that gives a 360-degree view of your screen." Nothing after that, no pricing, no specs, not even a release date. Still I wrote about it, thinking that was a pretty crazy idea. The editor said it was "fluff" and "could you add more information about it, please?"
It was hopeless but eventually it came out, earned a lot of reactions and comments, despite being nothing but purely entertaining. I realize how Hollywood has been exploiting this principle all along. Of course, it would be imperative to add more information about it, if I got any. Don't follow my example and try your best not to write "fluff". But if you're compelled to because you thought it was going to amuse people, put it all in good taste.
They say if the reader can't find benefit, almost immediately he will not read the item. Consider:
1. What the document is about
2. Why it is important to them and why they need to read it
3. What they will/can expect to get from it
4. How quickly will they be able to get info from the doc.
You know the article is readable if:
1. You learned something quickly
2. You can read blocks of words in one glance (This is actually how we all read, if given the chance)
The GOLDEN RULE states that your article is peach when a reader can learn the maximum number of things in the minimum amount of time.
I wrote about Toshiba's giant 360-degree helmet a few months ago. I couldn't find any information apart from a couple of sentences that said "Here's a ridiculously gigantic helmet from Toshiba that gives a 360-degree view of your screen." Nothing after that, no pricing, no specs, not even a release date. Still I wrote about it, thinking that was a pretty crazy idea. The editor said it was "fluff" and "could you add more information about it, please?"
It was hopeless but eventually it came out, earned a lot of reactions and comments, despite being nothing but purely entertaining. I realize how Hollywood has been exploiting this principle all along. Of course, it would be imperative to add more information about it, if I got any. Don't follow my example and try your best not to write "fluff". But if you're compelled to because you thought it was going to amuse people, put it all in good taste.
They say if the reader can't find benefit, almost immediately he will not read the item. Consider:
1. What the document is about
2. Why it is important to them and why they need to read it
3. What they will/can expect to get from it
4. How quickly will they be able to get info from the doc.
You know the article is readable if:
1. You learned something quickly
2. You can read blocks of words in one glance (This is actually how we all read, if given the chance)
The GOLDEN RULE states that your article is peach when a reader can learn the maximum number of things in the minimum amount of time.
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