Blog Post 7
Dear Blog,
Today I read a very interesting article about how people read content online. It peaked my interest, and I thought A blog post would be the perfect spot to talk about it since you are all (probably) reading this online.
They first talk about how people have a habit of skimming through writing while reading it online. I personally have a bad habit of doing this. I found this article about how to prevent your readers from skimming so much: https://irisreading.com/how-to-speed-read-without-skimming/.
The article also talks about the appearance of our writing. They say the appearance of our entries should be just as interesting as our writing. I definitely agree with this point. When I open an article and I dislike the font or the page layout, I often won’t even bother to read the first sentence. This article talks about how to edit the appearance of your writing or website to make it more pleasing: https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+to+make+your+online+writing+appearance+better&cvid=3110f56c8f0b46f3898a809bdefaa4af&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDgzODBqMGo0qAIAsAIA&FORM=ANAB01&PC=LCTS. I also found a good example of a website I would immediately close because of the layout:
Another piece of advice they gave us was to make our big points first. This way, readers will read the important parts first. It will both gain their interest in your writing and will also get the point across before they stop reading if they end up finishing the article halfway through.
The article also advises to talk to the reader by addressing them as “you” or “we.” This forms a connection between your writing and the reader. This article lists a few more ways to connect with readers through your writing: https://thewritepractice.com/connect-with-readers/.
It is also recommended to use clear word choices that would be understandable to almost everyone. This makes your writing much more understandable. This part stood out to me because I often find myself trying to use more complex words in my writing. While it may sound smarter, it can also make your writing difficult to understand for the average person. Here are a few examples of complex words that can be reverted into simpler words:
The next advice is to keep paragraphs short and focused, and even add in a one-sentence paragraph every so often. The article also reminds us to use bullet points, headings, links, and bold words when needed. This is a good reminder because I often forget to add anything other than normal text to my writing. I am going to try to incorporate this advice in my future blog posts, and I hope to better hold you’re attention while doing so.