A Content Creator’s Mission
As creatives, we all strive to stand out– to let our work speak for itself– illustrating our talent and abilities to the world. Nevertheless, writing is only half the battle these days. In today’s digital landscape, it is vital to understand the formatting, design, and detail-work that make blog posts and articles so engaging.
Crafting readable content is a vital aspect of media. It is not only our mission to convey the message but to do so in an attractive way. Take Civil Rights writer, filmmaker, and activist Toni Cade Bambara’s words as an example:
“My job is to make revolution irresistible.”
This concept applies to the work many of us do in both our lives and careers as communicators. Whether we work for a humanitarian cause, the arts, in food – you name it – we must make it enticing. Pique the audience’s attention and keep them hooked until we have conveyed our full message.
We all know that the Information Age is an age of speed. Communication is at its briefest in this world of tweets, texts, and blurbs. As the general public’s attention span grows shorter and shorter, it becomes the content creator’s role to adapt and execute their message effectively.
What Makes Content “Readable?”
Format, Format, Format: Keep in mind that most online readers will be scanning rather than reading. Customize your own work for that experience. Clean lines, clarity, and visuals – all of these are components of a well-designed page.
Balance your elements. Think to yourself while composing content, “Could I use a header for this new point?” or “How can I make this visually engaging?” or “Can I break my points up into a list?”
Consider Tone: While trying to reach your audience, understand that you speak to people of all education and reading levels. Keeping a conversational tone helps to keep your readers engaged. Write in an active voice.
Active voice: a writing technique that avoids “to be” verbs (i.e.: is, was, were) so the subject always performs the action. It keeps the piece clear and concise.
Building Blocks: Think about how you want to tell your story, market your product, or present your idea. There are many ways to do this,
Reporters often use the “Inverted Pyramid,”presenting readers with the essential information immediately.
Food or craft bloggers often use a “Sequential Structure” to provide thorough instructions, guiding their reader to success.
Long-form writers use a “Narrative Structure,”writing a satisfying story from beginning to end.
Informational sites and pages benefit from a “Hierarchal Structure.”
(Australian Government Style Manual)
What to Avoid
Large Blocks: Long paragraphs are not your friend. Try separating text after a few sentences, wherever it may intuitively feel right. This is something you’ll get used to as you practice.
Passive Voice: As we know by now, the tone is important. A passive voice makes sentences harder to understand.
Passive voice: includes “to be” verbs, often wordy.
Free-falling: Even the most casual of content should have a subtle structure to it. Plan your piece before jumping in. Stream-of-consciousness has the potential for great writing but beware of rambling.
Time for a little fun.
Taking things a step further, I’m comparing and contrasting two legendary music critics’ websites. First we’ll take a look at Robert Christgau’s site and then Greil Marcus.
Robert Christgau: I just want to know if he ever thought of hiring a web designer.
Robert Christgau’s Homepage
Christgau is still pretty active on social media. I follow him on Twitter and every now and then I’ll see his profile pop up and it always makes me chuckle. But Robert. Oh Robert.
An article posted by Robert Christgau
It hurts to look at Robert Christgau’s website. I tried to phrase that in a nicer way, I really did. The colors are abrasive, he uses almost no photos, and the navigation sidebar is loaded with tabs. It’s a good thing that he writes so well, because it’s the only piece of this confounding puzzle of a site that actually makes sense.
Griel Marcus: A very different homepage, and we can tell that although this site acts as the writer’s database (like Christgau’s), Everything is tucked away in its place.
Griel Marcus’ Homepage
Marcus probably has a website manager. The site updates frequently, and although it mostly posts throwbacks, there’s a good amount of newer content as well.
An article by Griel Marcus
One of the blog posts I found comprises a list of David Lynch works through the eyes of Marcus. They all include visuals and quick blurbs accompanying each. Not bad, Griel, not bad.
Both of these sites are so different, and convey each critic’s personality and style well. Christgau is known for being to-the-point and that’s what he’s giving us here. He’s also transitioned to using the platform, Substack, for his blogging needs, so the website is a very-well-updated record. Marcus does fun little Q&A’s with readers and posts them to the site, but most of his journalistic work exists elsewhere. In my opinion, I’d have a better time reading Griel Marcus’ website purely out of readability.