The New York Times goes brief
Talk about brief: The New York Times packs 13 stories onto its briefs page, called The (One-Page) Magazine.
Notice the combination of:
- One-paragraph profiles, trend pieces and new nuggets
- One-sentence reviews
- Charts (History, in Kardashians)
- Glossary items (This should be a word: Denigreet)
- Timelines (This one’s running across the top and down the right side)
- Infographics (This one’s running across the bottom of the page)
How brief are your briefs?
If they were briefer, would they be better?
How long should your message be?
Would your message be twice as good if it were half as long?
Yes, the research says. The shorter your message, the more likely readers are to read it, understand it and make good decisions based on it.
So how long is too long? What’s the right length for your piece? Your paragraphs? Your sentences? Your words?Find out at Rev Up Readability — our clear-writing workshop.
There, you’ll use a cool (free!) tool to analyze your message for 33 readability metrics. You’ll leave with quantifiable targets, tips and techniques for measurably boosting readability.
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