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6 Tips for Writing Tight
Traditional media tricks for modern platforms
I started out writing for newspapers. Here is what I learned about writing tight.
Know your audience
As a journalist, we were trained to write for an intelligent 12-year-old.
Readers range from young to older, so try to imagine your ideal reader and think about what words that person uses in conversation. A college graduate has a different vocabulary than an intelligent 12-year-old.
Simplify your words
Sometimes an article feels academic and the word choice is heavy.
In his book, “On Writing Well,” William Zinsser recommends using fewer Latin-based words, which often end in “ion” or “age.” You could substitute ‘feeling’ for ‘sensation’ or ‘drink’ for ‘beverage.’
Choosing simpler words means you can reach a larger audience and you don’t run the risk of scaring off someone who doesn’t keep a dictionary handy.
Shorten your sentences
Another key driver in good writing is sentence length.
The longer a sentence gets, the more likely it is that the subject and verb will get separated in the mix. The best sentences often follow the simple…
