Why great writers ?? formatting
Susan Diaz
?? I help small businesses scale with AI implementation | Founder, AI Agency | ???? Instructor at York Uni |??? Podcast Host: AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs | ?? CCO at Volterra | ?? Author of UNboring | Mom ????
Let’s talk about the deep and meaningful relationship great writers have with formatting ??♀? How a piece of writing is presented on the screen, how it looks (across multiple screen sizes), and how it enables visual understanding of the thinking at hand has a lot to do with making sure people read it.?
Reality check: This task must then include unsexy elements like font size, spacing, bolding and underlining, paragraphing, and, the favourite child of the content marketing pros - lists!?
The core driver of formatting your writing is usually LOGIC ??
I hear ya!?
That sounds like a LOT!?
And it is.?
It’s also usually second nature for brilliant writers. A superb skill we do not get enough credit for ??
But first, why IS visual formatting important in online content writing? ??
While we’ve established that a single block of text is no longer enough to generate and keep attention on the interwebs, let’s spend a minute understanding WHY good formatting helps.?
Know this: most people do not read a blog post (article) word for word. They’re more likely to skim, and pick out the information they need. And, perhaps more importantly, fill in the blanks themselves (or read more elsewhere at a later date).?
Good formatting in your writing lengthens engagement?
43% of people admit to skim-reading written content. Users spend an average of 37 seconds reading a blog post (yup! And the average top ranking blog post is 2K+ words, taking 7-10 mins to read).?
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Good formatting in your writing proactively offers accessibility?
Making content easy on the eye, and accessible for as many people with different learning abilities as possible, is key as we become a more empathetic and evolved society.
Accessible content includes images, color coding, text indentations and anything else that may help those who may have trouble reading.
Onwards then to “the how” of foundational formatting ??
How to format your blog post article for maximum impact
Each of these tactics of formatting for blog articles may seem deceptively simple on its own. That said; each will still be helpful. However! THE TRUE POWER lies in using them together. Any combination of 3 or more of these will take your written piece from good to great.
Pro writer tip: don’t dismiss templates
Don’t forget the value of templates in your writing. If you hit on some good cadence in your formatting that you think can be applied later, be sure to templatize! Most often this is called a “style”. A style is a set of formatting rules that is applied automatically to your document as you create and modify it. This may vary in your writing editor of choice (ie: Google docs, Microsoft Word or other). Often these basic formatting changes are fiddly and much more difficult to do when you’re approaching it on an ad-hoc basis. So save templates and start there ???
Also remember the templates provided by your software. You will often see templates which simplify adding specialist details like charts, graphics, and a table of contents.
Want a copy of my book on making your writing a lot less boring?
‘UNboring: Take your marketing from blah to brilliant’ is due for release soon. If you’d like an advance copy, drop me a note and you shall have it.