suschar

I’m delighted with what you did to my post, most especially by including the original text. I said it once and I said it again, and yet again. It was my intention to compliment your writing. Reducing it to be hard hitting in this particular case would be counter productive to my intention. And the resulting edit is a great illustration of your intention. I’m liking this little blog community a great deal and I like what you add.

Strephon,

I am excited by the value you provide us in your posts. Thank you ever so much for sharing. I have a strong sense you are equally enthusiastic about contributing to this community. I hope you keep regular. :-)

10/10 for your last post (#84).

Your katana hit all the targets and cut deeply. Your comments are very perceptive and informative. I enjoyed them.

I think your post is the best one here so far. Alas, that includes mine (sigh).

Great tameshikiri(*)

Gary

(*) a Japanese sword term meaning “cutting technique” – in reference to a comment that Strephon made in an earlier blog post (#55).

“Elsa’s linked article is actually a fair example of non dense writing, with short, single thought paragraphs. It just so happened her content was provocative as this thread shows, an unfortunate consequense of group education. People who read her articles will see they are not simple but are not dense either … ”
vs.
Elsa’s linked article is non-dense with short, single thought paragraphs and provocative content. Her articles are neither simple nor dense.

I am not critiquing the author. Just using his conversational blog to illustrate less is more in non-fiction; and often in fiction as well.

Merry Christmas to all and to all “Happy Writing.”

suschar

Here is a new, maybe important slant on this issue of writing well so people will read and learn from what you say.

A lot of suggestions to write short articles and short sentences and paragraphs.

Let me suggest something equally important: write ideas that count!

Write good ideas, not just your ideas. Clarify your ideas before you write them for others.

Another kind of dense writing I am sure you have found, as I have, are comments and articles full of rather minor ideas, something like padding.

My concern for myself in writing is not just to come up with ideas to share but to self-analyze and see if my ideas have a chance of being important to myself and others.

-are your two or three main ideas per article well thought out?

-have you put your most important idea first?

-have you put your next most important idea last so as to end with a bang?

-are each of your key ideas connected to each other in some way, yet also each significantly different from each other?

-are you saying ideas already said many times and so most likely familiar to most readers already, or are you giving a new slant on something?

-are you making a clear distinction between a theory or overall perspective idea and practice ideas for specific use?

-have you separated out expressions of emotions from objective ideas and statements themselves?

-how do you connect yourself each time to the ideas you state? Are you a great success? Do you not mention your own experience but try to rely on a title like Dr.? Are you real with the reader?

-what evidence do you state to back up your idea?

-do you make a distinction between ideas backed up with evidence and experience? Or do you back up your ideas with the exaggerated claims that advertising copywriters usually write?

-do you have personal and professional integrity, which means that anything you write you back up by using and experiencing in your own life.

-this is a writer of successful how-to advanced manuals used in classes as well as for the general reader. He has to use the above principles and practices or a whole book bombs!

Guess this is a short article in itself. Thanks to everybody for sharing so many informative ideas here! I will submit these thoughts as an article, but wait first to see if there is feedback or additional ideas from others here. I can acknowledge these with names and quotes as well. ‘So and So says…’ Thanks!

I know this is a blog and not a forum. However…

I guess it would depend on what a person has a Doctorate in.

I know many medical doctors and they have shocking written communication (their hand writing is indecipherable too) skills.

However, if a person was a Doctor of Letters or something like that then they have probably studied the subject intensively.

Nobody doubts your prolific written ability. With 10,000+ articles published I really don’t know how you find the time, motivation and effort required. It is amazing. You don’t need to take that as a compliment – even if it is offered that way. It is merely a statement of fact.

Nevertheless, we can all learn from other people’s points of view whether they are a truck washer, a karate dude or even a doctor. It’s all grist for the mill.

By the way Lance, I must say that your last post was exceptionally easy to read. Nice.

Gary

Sorry Gary, I did not mean for that to come off as facetious I was being so very serious. I am learning so much really and truly. Perhaps these Blogs are a difficult way of communication, as often someone can get the wrong impression. In fact the amount of knowledge that some of these Doctorates bring should be quite evident of the amount of geniuses we have here to help us improve.

Compliments and Wisdom

No need to give me any compliments Gary; they are irrelevant. But with that said; we must give credit where credit is due and just savoring these pearls of wisdom from the Doctorates makes one humbled.

Wonderful Gift Deserves Award

What a wonderful gift they bring us all and I believe that their years of schooling and the thousands they have spent is worth every penny, just judging by the great information that they freely give to us paupers. Just brilliant stuff indeed, they are so generous with their knowledge. EzineArticles.com should give them an award of some type? (whoops paragraph too long).

Conclusion and Action Plan

Can you think of an award to recognize them for their Mentorship? Is there a way to encourage more top Doctorates to come forth to assist the up and coming writers of the future? Let us take moment to reflect on this and figure out a way to promote more of this type of dialogue.

We all know that you are the article king here but you don’t have to be so critical of other people’s opinions.

You jumped into me a few comments back and I had the good grace to be nice about it.

Please don’t feel intimidated by somebody’s Doctoral qualifications. You probably know a heck of a lot more things than the narrow scope of a doctor’s field of specialization – judging from your incredible mass of diverse articles.

Everybody has an opinion. We read many of yours.

Having said that – have a nice Christmas.

Gary

It is great to know how to do this correctly. I guess the well educated folks here are really helping us write to a dummying down readership. We certainly do not want to make them think or use their brains. We must write shorter paragraphs, title each paragraph so they understand what they are reading, use simple material and then at the end re-state the topic and then tell them what we want them to do and you know like, take the thinking out of it for them, so they can operate without any confusion.

Excellent advice, WOW, I am sure learning a lot here, thank you so much. This sure clears up so much for me. And all article authors should listen to these well educated folks to learn how to write and reach these readers so they can sell them stuff.

I agree completely that it is really a rare occasion when dense articles get read in this internet age.

What makes an article interesting to read? When we are bombarded with innumerable emails and articles and pop-ups on the internet, what makes you pause and feel compelled to read an article?

Introduce a compelling idea
Well, first of all, the article should have a compelling topic or idea that is introduced in the first 5-10 seconds. Something to capture your attention and curiosity. It could be a story or an anecdote or even a statement or question to hook the readers. We all generally like stories and it is an easy way to connect with the audience. Write in a simple style and introduce a couple of your ideas surrounding the point of the story.

Break ideas into short paragraphs
Let each idea be developed into short paragraphs. I generally find it helpful to use subheadings or subtitles so that the idea jumps out at them in one glance. It is perfect for those who just scan through an article.

Make it short, simple and flowing
Another point I suggest is to have a connection from the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the other. The idea is to write in a flowing manner so that we can take the readers along with us on a smooth ride. When we use a dense style, it is like crossing rocky bumps on the way. Pay special attention to make your sentences short and crisp. Let us let our brains and eyes relax while reading the article.

Conclude with an Action Plan
Rouse the readers to act on the ideas if you can. Throw some questions or send some thought provoking messages in the end. Point certain directions to take and exit.

Best Regards

Dr. Neela R. Soman