Just as I hit the “publish” button of my last post, this column was published in the Atlantic. The author, Michael Kinsley, says that most newspaper articles are too long. Those of us who are used to writing for the Internet know that you have to get to the point quickly, and kick to the curb all the rules you learned in journalism school (such as: use descriptive adjectives and action verbs, don’t repeat words in a paragraph, don’t use colloquial language). The article dissects sentence-paragraphs from the NYT and The Washington Post as examples. (Next week I am going to take apart the Atlantic whose writers could often use a stronger-willed editor.)
Use simple language, simple sentence structure, call a spade a spade, write it like you’d say it and remove every single unnecessary word.
Your reader is not a captive at the breakfast table or on the subway to work. He or she is only going to keep reading for a few more seconds, till someone walks into his office with a question or IM’s her a link to a cool YouTube video, or till his smart phone rings.
