Write less, say more
If you're slogging away, thanklessly writing long-form content, you've been conned
Gary Bloomer | SHAKING THE TREE # 214
You’ve been lied to.
Or at least, I feel like I was lied to, so maybe you feel the same way.
If, like me, you’ve had it drummed into you over the last few years that long form content is essential and that you need to be creating 1,500 to 2,500 word articles every time you hit PUBLISH, I suspect you’ve been lied to.
While I get that a certain number of long form posts are great things to have, if that’s all you’re creating, simply because an online guru or other told you to, and if you’re in the early stages of your content creation journey, you may be setting yourself up for burn out, and with it, failure.
Here’s why:
Let’s say you subscribe to ten online newsletters (if you’re anything like me you subscribe to way more newsletters and just ten).
When you open each of them up, if two of them offer content that’s short, well-spaced, and studded with easy to read bullet points, while the remain eight are a range of densely-packed, long form content that’s a wall of text—text without paragraph spaces, without any sort of visual rest stop along the way—unless you’re highly tuned in to the author, the odds are good that you will read little of the material, if any.
Why? Because all that text looks like work!
Unless you’re a hyper-focused academic, it’s likely that you’re going to get more out of the short piece because it’s easier on the eye and therefore easier to read. And text that’s easier to read is easier to recall and easier to act on.
So, instead of beating yourself up, feeling that you MUST write piece after piece that’s hundreds of words long (or longer), give yourself a break and pepper your publishing schedule with shorter pieces.
You don’t need to explain every detail. You might think you do but you don’t
You don’t need to overwrite your material. You might think it makes you a better writer but the odds are good that al you’ll do is confuse your readers.
So …
Keep your sentences short and varied.
Keep your paragraphs simple and uncomplicated.
Don’t be afraid to use lines of blank space to separate your thoughts, points, and ideas.
Write hot and in the moment, then go back and edit hard.
Ask yourself: “Is every phrase or idea expressed in this piece presented in easily understood, everyday language?
If it isn’t rework it until its meaning is super simple.
Aim for concise clarity rather than over-worded length.
Write less. Say more.
As always, thanks for reading.
—Gar
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P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree: Writing from experience
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.