Structure and Story Online

      "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one."

       That's a great quote from Mark Twain.  It's true.  Longer, wordy stuff flows out easier but short is better, more effective.  That's why it's harder to write.  It shows you mean business.

        Chapter 13 is really useful, it has info that makes me not want to sell the book at the end of the semester and use it again later.

       Lately I've been questioning whether I want to use the 'Inverted Pyramid' all the time, but the chapter shows that it's the perfect style for writing online.  The lead and the beginning of the body are really the hardest part to write because it's the 'newest' part that makes your story different from anything that already came out.  You make that part interesting so people will at least read that, and if they don't read the whole thing to the end then it doesn't matter since it's just supporting information that you gathered.

       The four rules given on page 189 are all really good too.  When I first read number 2, "Cut useless verbiage," I thought it was harsh that he said the "amateurish, chatty stuff" is what has to go, but I realized that I already stay away from writing that stuff.  Writing leads is what teaches you how to do that, and blogs are actually really good practice for it.  I try to start my blog posts with something that will catch a person's eye and make them click on it and read the rest, especially since people looking through blogs are considering reading something, but it has to be interesting.

       That Mark Twain quote is rule number 4, "It's harder to write short than long."  That goes along with getting rid of funny, word-play headlines.  They're one of the more creative parts of journalistic writing, but sometimes it shows through that they're unnecessary, and it's a relief when you can just write a standard, uncreative headline that just sums up the story.  That's what catches the eye if the person would even be interested.

       I also agree with the point that links are effective and that Wikipedia has way too many.  And I like the Stephen Colbert reference.