Writing Lesson #1: Not “all in one chunk”
Okay, Reader-student (my pet name for you, FYI), roll up your mental sleeves and brace yourself for your first step upon the path of transforming – not just improving, but transforming – how you express yourself in writing.
I have promised to lead you to both greater precision, which implies grammatical correctness, and a more-genuine authenticity, which implies openness of heart and mind.
After you read, consider, and, at best, practice (even for one day) this very-first lesson, your writing will promptly (actually, immediately) display noticeable improvement. I’ve seen it a thousand times, so let’s get started.
From reader-friendly to reader’s worst enemy
Yes, some messages work fine coming in just one “chunk,” especially if too short to benefit from dividing up. Take, for example, a text that simply acknowledges, “Got it.” Even messages composed of just two or three short sentences, max, might work okay in one “chunk,” aka paragraph.
But many messages contain more information than the writer can “safely” (I’ll explain below) present in just one chunk – especially when the message will be viewed on a small screen, where the shortened line length available produces skinny columns.
Please note, I have taught this lesson “not all in one chunk” since before people carried cell phones. Even on regular typing paper, the rule applies, for the reasons presented below. But nowadays, thanks to the dominance of small screens (phones), the lesson takes on much greater importance.
On a laptop or other “full-sized” screen, something you write that appears, say, just two inches “tall” (and relatively wide) might elongate, if read on a phone, to over six inches long (and skinny). I just tested this fact with the two paragraphs immediately above, and my experiment verified about a 3:1 ratio – at least between my laptop and my phone, given my various sizes and settings.
Making matters much worse, readers get to view only a small amount of text at a time. That’s fine for a brief message of one to three brief sentences. Sadly (to me), many texters and posters never send a message longer than that. If that’s you, I’m glad you’re here. You have more to say than that, and I want to help release it.
But we don’t want the added perceptions and helpful details lost, in a “string of words” that may have worked on a regular screen (or, egad, a sheet of paper!) but get lost when stretched out long and skinny and, worsening the problem, can be viewed only in small segments, never more than a small puzzle piece at a time.
In search of “buried treasure” – within poor paragraphing
“Buried Treasure”: That’s what I call important info that gets “lost” or “buried” inside long “chunks” of text, because paragraphs run too long, especially on a small screen. Even on paper, “one-chunk” messages can bury important info, but long, skinny screen columns (as on a phone) greatly worsen the problem.
In other words, inside any detailed message that comes in as one long paragraph, certain important things run a high risk of “disappearing” in the middle. When that happens, we say that the important point “got buried” in the text.
Ironically, the writer cared enough to provide extra details in a longish e-mail or text but did not know enough to put each important detail its own little paragraph, to make it stand out, not disappear.
Eureka! Buried treasure found – via the “F&L Rule”
To “unearth” and, better yet, shine a light on (highlight) the “treasure” (most important info) in your message, put to good use what I call the “First and Last Rule” of information arrangement. I don’t mean that it’s the only rule. I mean that it calls attention to the parts of a message that come first – or last.
I should note that many sources present this well-known (or at least often-mentioned) principle as the “recency effect” and the “primacy effect.” It’s got other names, too, including serial-position effect. But, for my system, the name First and Last Rule works best, for important reasons.
The “F & L Rule”: We best retain the message elements we read or hear first and last in any “message” – including within message parts, such as sentences and paragraphs.
That’s one feature of my rule, as opposed to typical recency-primacy understandings. I apply it not just to the whole (say, an essay or a speech), but, importantly, to all significant sub-parts of the whole, including major “sections” (as headings might announce), the paragraphs that comprise the sections, and even the sentences inside the paragraphs.
Applying the rule in your writing
If you present all of your information in one chunk, you get only one first and one “last”! Get it? Per the rule, by any name, those are your strongest allies. Why write all in one chunk and limit your “F&L” resources to the smallest possible number?
If you broke up your longish chunk (with all its important info, aka treasure) into, say, six little paragraphs, you’d gain firsts and lasts for each paragraph, even if it’s just one sentence long, since my rule applies also to sentences, as I’ve noted. It’s just so easy, and now you’d have not just a measly two “hot spots” but 12.
As detailed elsewhere, I love to write communication theory, especially as regards language. You won’t read anywhere else about my “F&L Rule” (until it goes viral, ha ha), especially not its specific writing application, updated, even, for the dominance of e-mails, texts and posts . It’s my theory, especially as used, and I present it authenticity, to you, as I strive to practice what I preach.
These days, almost every message you read, especially on your phone, violates this simple rule. By taking care to rise above that pretty-low high bar, starting with this easy method, you will distinguish yourself as one of those who care about their writing. It’s a good feeling. And it shows respect.
So now you have the short version of why to always write in separate and brief paragraphs (especially if it might be read on a phone) instead of the very common form that I detest and revile as “all in one chunk.” The first time you apply this rule, you have already shown yourself a better writer! Word.
Next comes the “narrative” version of this lesson, describing, sometimes in story form (that’s what “narrative” means!) and further detail, including a concrete example. This version reflects another look at how I would teach this important Lesson #1 in my CU-Boulder writing classes.
If interested, just continue reading below, and then click to “continue reading.”
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Lesson #1: Narrative: Don’t send it “all in one chunk”!
Imagine this: You check your texts on your phone. You see this longish one that came in. Please note that I, as your resident expert, do not automatically judge a longish text or e-mail as any kind of “problem,” as do lesser-trained communication “authorities,” including abundant lame advice coming from AI. click to continue reading