How to Write for the Web

Hey, guess who showed up in another FSO article about blogging?

by Ashley Belanger for Full Sail Online

Learn how your writing benefits from brevity.

The phrase “the shorter, the better” can be applied to many things. Generally speaking, action movies, acceptance speeches and grace before a really delicious dinner all benefit from brevity, but one of the absolute crucial applications of this phrase has been toward Web writing. Wordiness on the Web is more than just frowned upon; it’s a cardinal sin.

But why? Well, because whatever it is that you’re about to expound upon has already been explained by someone else, and chances are, they did it better and they used cooler images to illustrate their point. That was meant to be a joke, but seriously, one of the keys to Web writing is in understanding the value of a well-placed link (like this one.) that supports your statements for those who don’t already know the subject.

It’s dangerous to concern yourself too much with length without also acknowledging that the reason most writers (and readers) want you to be brief is so that you get to the point fast. Don’t dilute your message with too much language or back-story.

One of the easiest ways to highlight your point is by artfully formatting your writing to best display the message’s main objective. You can do this with a pull quote, but that’s not the only way. In this article, all of the key points have been bolded. You can also use bullets, numbers or sidebars to allow the most casual readers to immediately scroll down to the important stuff. The important thing is that you use formatting effectively to guide the reader.

Adjectives and adverbs can be really powerful, but when it comes to Web writing, it’s actually the nouns and verbs that should be your best friends. Remember to use active voice and avoid long strings of verbs, so you should say:

“I jumped over those hurdles.”

instead of:

“I had been jumping over those hurdles.”

and the very worst:

“Those are the hurdles I had just been jumping over.”

And not to beat a dead horse, but in addition to tailoring the length of your overall message, you should keep in mind that shorter paragraphs also ease the experience for the reader. Try not to have more than five lines per paragraph.

Make sure the breaks in your text make sense for an outside reader. That’s the person you should be most concerned with in any writing. At some point, every writer must come to terms with how much their chosen topic has already been covered, and for this reason, EMDTMS Course Director Joe Bustillos encourages students to find what’s important to them about their writing topic.

“Every student should keep a blog,” Bustillos said. “But don’t just write the stuff you think I want to hear. Write what you know, especially stuff from the heart. That’s better.”

Web writing gives you a chance to really establish a voice for your writing, especially if it’s for a personal or professional blog. You will probably find that the more you write, the more natural it will be to follow these guidelines, so keep plugging along.

Quick Tips:
* Always proofread before you publish to the Web.
* Use spell check!
* Deleted posts are the quickest way to ruin your Web integrity.
* If you’re worried about the content in a particular post, wait 24 hours before you publish.

“Re-reading before posting really saves on saying something stupid and/or appearing stupid for leaving out words and/or just not posting things that made more sense in your head but just look like a madman ranting in print (kind’a like this sentence!)” Bustillos reminded students.

-Ashley Belanger