Holloway Editione1.0.0
Updated August 14, 2024You’re reading an excerpt of Great Founders Write, by Ben Putano, writer, entrepreneur, and book publisher. He’s the founder of Damn Gravity Media, a publishing house that inspires and educates tomorrow’s great founders. Purchase now for lifetime access to the book and on-demand video course.
Good design gives your eyes a clear path to follow. We tend to notice bigger elements first, as well as elements in the forefront of the design. If you see eyes on a page, you’ll naturally look to where they are looking. A web designer can use these techniques to guide a visitor directly to the call-to-action.
Writing has a natural starting point: the top left. But after that is a long, meandering path that few readers are willing to take. In the world of business writing, no one reads every word. That means you need to direct your reader to the most important information.
Most readers skim writing before deciding to read it more thoroughly. Readers will jump to the biggest elements first: your headers and subheaders. These are your directional arrows. Don’t try to be clever—make your headers clear and descriptive.
Let’s take this section as an example. This chapter is titled, “Design for Easy Reading.” There’s no question what you’re going to learn here: writing lessons from the world of design.
Clever titles are more confusing than intriguing. Imagine if this chapter title was “Back to the drawing board.” You’d have no idea what the chapter was about, and you’d probably skip it.
In business writing, it’s better to be clear than clever. We’re all too busy to play guessing games and risk wasting time on something irrelevant.
Good design provides clear direction.
Good design also creates clear focal points. Poor design has no focus, confusing the mind about where to look first. This is exhausting to the viewer, and most will simply give up trying.
Good writing also has focal points. The most important information should be easy to identify. Readers in a hurry should be able to jump to the most important text and get the gist of what you’re saying. Poorly designed writing gives equal weight to every word. You may think every word is important, but your reader won’t. If everything on the page seems important, readers will decide that nothing is important.
When speaking, we naturally emphasize the most important points. We enunciate, talk more loudly, and even repeat ourselves. You can do the same thing when you write.