What the Edited Guide Needs
Created | Updated Mar 17, 2013
Words, words, words. That's what we're made of. Herewith some of my thoughts on what we're doing with them.
Writing Right with Dmitri: What We Need in the Edited Guide
What do we need in the Edited Guide? Probably not more of this.
Definitely more of this.
What am I saying? We should talk less about tree rings and Jesus' underwear, and more about fruit-shaped municipal utilities? Er, no.
Count the words. (You can do that with copy + paste + Word program.) Do you see the difference? Or notice how long it takes to scroll down.
What the Edited Guide needs are more bite-sized Entries. Items that are to the point. Items that have strong hooks. Items that grab the attention, educate and enlighten, and then go on their merry way before the reader knows what hit him.
Why don't we have more of that? Why do we have so many 5000+- word compendia of every factoid we can get into an Entry?
;'. . . have just been looking at a few links that could be added here. . . ' – Researcher Who Will Not Be Named. (Entry is already 2500 words long.)
'It's in a section of its own, near the bottom. . . . ' – Researcher Who Will Not Be Named. (Entry is already 2300 words long, and discussion is in its third month.)
'I agree that the average reader won't read it all, but I didn't want to leave anything out. ' – Researcher Who Will Not Be Named. (Entry has so far reached the astounding length of 5,684 words.)
Let me make myself clear: all of the people quoted are brilliant Researchers. They do amazing work. They are prolific as well as prolix1. We need more of these people – if we could bottle their skill, knowledge, and commitment, we could take over the universe. I love them.
But we need to take into account two things:
- The Edited Guide is also part of the web. We need readers.
- Readers have a habit of wandering off if the piece is too long.
Here's my suggestion:
Break. It. Down.
Write shorter, not less. Break your subject up into digestible fragments with a beginning, middle, and end.
Keep the reader in mind. You should do that, anyway. Remember: they aren't as fascinated as you are – unless you give them a reason to be.
Write short – but write more. More Entries, briefer Entries.
Hooks, hooks, hooks. Ask yourself:
- What's the main point?
- Why is it interesting to someone else?
- How can I grab the reader's attention?
Which is more work: chipping away in your free moments at a definitive list of the songs sung by Rauzzini, or a breezy – but factually correct – account of the scandal that caused the famous male soprano to be hiding out in Bath? You decide. But ask yourself: which would someone be more likely to read?
Now ask yourself another question: could I deliver the goods on what I really wanted to say in the shorter format? What kind of work/preparation/skills would I need to do that? Would practice help? What would be the payoff – for me as a writer, for the Edited Guide as a whole, for h2g2 as a website?
Completeness is nice – in an encyclopedia. We're a Guide – a collection of unconventional wisdom. You heard it here.
This article is 629 words long.
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