Prose is architecture, not interior decoration -- Ernest Hemingway
One of the drawbacks I have seen in newbie bloggers is that they are full of words. These are people who have recently immigrated from paper-notebook-land.
They have not been exposed to format-less writing. Before they start, they classify what they are going to write into categories like article, essay, travelogue etc. All of these come with predefined word limits attached to them. What's more? Such word limits are often on the expansive side.
Whoever heard of a 100-word essay? That is not how essays are written. They might say.
Some say the web is characterised by most surfers' low attention span. As a surfer myself, I think that is a load of dragon droppings. If I find an article that is useful to me, I will obviously stick around to complete it.
Of course, it is quite a different matter if the article in question, in spite of being valuable information, is so drawn and dull that I would sooner choke on carrots than finish it.
So it ends up being a matter of readability. And that my friend, is what we are talking about. There are indeed writers who can write 1000-word-long blog posts and still hold our attention. But relatively unknown folk like you and I stand a better chance at keeping the surfer's attention if we are quick about whatever point we want to make.
Think of a short blog post as sitting down in front of your reader and talking to him while looking him/her in the eyes. A long piece of writing on the other hand, is like speaking to a crowd of followers at your own pace (possibly even looking dreamily towards the sunset).
Sticking to a word limit of... say... something around 320 words, will eventually earn you the repute that you need to write a few thousand words and still be read.
One of the drawbacks I have seen in newbie bloggers is that they are full of words. These are people who have recently immigrated from paper-notebook-land.
They have not been exposed to format-less writing. Before they start, they classify what they are going to write into categories like article, essay, travelogue etc. All of these come with predefined word limits attached to them. What's more? Such word limits are often on the expansive side.
Whoever heard of a 100-word essay? That is not how essays are written. They might say.
Some say the web is characterised by most surfers' low attention span. As a surfer myself, I think that is a load of dragon droppings. If I find an article that is useful to me, I will obviously stick around to complete it.
Of course, it is quite a different matter if the article in question, in spite of being valuable information, is so drawn and dull that I would sooner choke on carrots than finish it.
So it ends up being a matter of readability. And that my friend, is what we are talking about. There are indeed writers who can write 1000-word-long blog posts and still hold our attention. But relatively unknown folk like you and I stand a better chance at keeping the surfer's attention if we are quick about whatever point we want to make.
Think of a short blog post as sitting down in front of your reader and talking to him while looking him/her in the eyes. A long piece of writing on the other hand, is like speaking to a crowd of followers at your own pace (possibly even looking dreamily towards the sunset).
Sticking to a word limit of... say... something around 320 words, will eventually earn you the repute that you need to write a few thousand words and still be read.
