Holloway Editione1.0.0
Updated August 14, 2024Youβre reading an excerpt of Great Founders Write, by Ben Putano, writer, entrepreneur, and book publisher. Heβs the founder of Damn Gravity Media, a publishing house that inspires and educates tomorrowβs great founders. Purchase now for lifetime access to the book and on-demand video course.
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 youβre saying. Poorly designed writing gives equal weight to every word. You may think every word is important, but your reader wonβt. 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.
Italicize for emphasis.
Bold or highlight the most important sentences.
Repeat yourself to create a rhythm of focal points.
Put the most important information at the beginning of a paragraph, not the end, and definitely not the middle (unless you want the reader to miss it).
You may have learned in school that such blunt writing tools were cheap tricks. But youβre not just a writer; youβre an entrepreneur. Forget βelegantβ writing. Your goal should be ergonomic writing: useful, functional, and efficient.
Use every trick at your disposal. EVEN ALL CAPS.
But donβt overdo it. Again, if every word seems important, nothing is.
In design, what you donβt see is just as important as what you do see.
White space is literally the space in between design elements. Itβs a critical piece in good design, and one that takes time to appreciate and master. Young designers often try to fit as much as possible on the page. Experienced designers know that white space is what makes their work stand out.
This principle is just as important in your writing.