Use it as a headline, deck or nut graph
Once you’ve found your focus and written your one-sentence story summary, use it.
A well-written summary statement can become a headline, deck or theme sentence.… Read the full article
headline
How do you read like a writer?
Read for technique, not just for information and entertainment
Years ago, I ran across this passage Stephen Schiff wrote about Australian film director Fred Schepisi for The New Yorker:
As Schepisi talks, his hands play along: they’re the nipping boat, they’re the foaming river; when they clap, they’re the waterfall.
… Read the full article Skimming, scanning and close reading
Get the word out to lookers, skimmers & readers
Online readers read shallow and deep, according to The Stanford Poynter Project: Eye Movement on the Internet, a study by Stanford University and The Poynter Institute.… Read the full article
How to use pull quotes and why
They attract attention, make messages memorable
Pull quotes — aka callouts, breakout quotes or pullout quotes — are “the print equivalent of a sound bite,” according to the authors of The Newsletter Editor’s Desk Book
Actually, I think they’re more like movie trailers.… Read the full article
Get content above the fold on mobile
Put the hot stuff up top with the 1-2-3-4 test
Web visitors spend 74% of their time on the first two screens, just 26% on all remaining screens, according to the Nielsen Norman Group
So don’t blow your top.… Read the full article