The Power of Paragraphs: Thinking From time to time, the 30-Second Editor ponders paragraphs. Paragraphs are great for some things: forcing writers to clarify logical connections between ideashelping readers understand the thinking behind complex informationsummarizing background or context for recommendationsinviting readers to think about a topic in new ways Did you notice what I did there? I wrote a list about the power of paragraphs. This is one of life’s small ironies. We … [Read more...] about The 30-Second Editor Ponders Paragraphs
30-Second Editor
30-Second Edit: The Paragraph Squint
Paragraphs give long reports the grey look that forces readers to squint. Too much squinting is hard on readers who have stacks of stuff to read, meetings to attend and big decisions to sort out. Here’s one last squint to make life easier for everyone: writers, readers, and especially lookers. (If you missed the other two, look them up in The Durksenary.) Lookers are readers who don’t read. Lookers are also notoriously fond of PLT sandwiches. The PLT Sandwich The Paragraph List … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Paragraph Squint
30-Second Edit: The Table Squint
Building Tables This is a perfect week for geeking out about tables. Not the flat surfaces we use for everything from sharing a meal to catching the stuff that accumulates in a front entry. Tables that make you think. The kind of table that helps writers find flaws and fill gaps in their thinking. And that helps readers visualize complex relationships among important details. Tables: Tools for Thinking This year is the 150thanniversary of a table … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Table Squint
30-Second Edit: The Squint
Readers and Lookers There are two kinds of readers. Those who read the words and those who prefer white space and pictures. Some readers “read” by looking, not by reading. The most important thing to know about lookers is that they are also your boss. Your colleagues. Your clients. If you want to know what they're looking at, resist the urge to re-read every word of your final draft. Instead, try a 30-second squint. The Squint: Take off your glasses, sit back from the page or … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Squint
30-Second Edit: Look it up
Language is a virus. Most writers pick up one or two pesky word bugs at the start of our careers. Engineers, for example, write approximately in front of any number they haven’t measured to at least three decimal points. Bureaucrats of all sorts learn to disseminate information and make decisions in accordance with strategic plans that have passed a stringent risk-based analysis process. If that sentence makes sense to you, the virus has already taken hold. It’s time for a 30-second … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: Look it up