Writing for the Web 
 
Making generalizable statements about writing for the web can be about as risky as describing "writing for the ear" (e.g., writing for radio), "writing to pictures" (e.g., writing for TV), or "writing for the mass audience" — a handy euphamism for "writing for people with less than a 10th grade education." Yes, we kind of know such writing when we read it, but it is hard to express in rules, and rules break down very quickly once we get past one or two rules of thumb. 

I offer up this "web book" to provide a compilation of web resources that relate to writing for the web. It is not meant to be a complete listing, but rather a convenient, even structured way for web writers to get help. Each chapter is an online resource that I have identified, evaluated, and selected for this collection. I have tried to put the readings into a meaningful order, and have written a brief summary of each chapter for this introduction. 

Philosophy 
by Dan Bricklin et al.  

The www.gooddocuments.com site offers this section on "philosophy," which really means: how to think about communicating with writing on the web." It notes that people rarely read web pages word by word, which probably is not news to most people — especially to those of us to use the web. They purposefully skim pages looking for keywords or phrases. Guess we ought to think about that when we write for the web, huh? 

To see how one company has integrated research on writing into a "product" to help people improve writing and organizing information, see the section on Trellix and the company's sample applications. I especially like the U.S. Constitution and Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road samples. 

As We May Think 
by Vannevar Bush  

Published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1945, this article was one of the first to examine writing and organizing information in the computer age. Vannevar Bush, who as Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development was responsible for helping make World War II a war of "brain power," wanted to see to it that scientific knowledge was effectively communicated through writing that was easily understandable. He is the recognized inventor of "hypertext" writing. Think about it. Hypertext writing in 1945? Reading this article gives us a sense of perspective, which is probably very useful as the future rushes at us faster and faster each day. 

How to Write for the Web 
by Jakob Nielsen  

Jakob Nielsen, who works for Sun Microsystems, has been running web usability studies since 1994. The findings about how people use the web, and in particular how they read the web ("They don't," says Nielsen), give us a good start when it comes to trying to learn how to present information in a way that readers will understand it. 

Here is another sobering thought from Nielsen's article "Be Succinct": 

    Reading from computer screens is about 25% slower than reading from paper. Even users who don't know this human factors research usually say that they feel unpleasant when reading online text. As a result, people don't want to read a lot of text from computer screens: you should write 50% less text and not just 25% less since it's not only a matter of reading speed but also a matter of feeling good. We also know that users don't like to scroll: one more reason to keep pages short.
Pretty solid stuff, as is his section on Applying Writing Guidelines, which shows the impact that certain writing styles can have on a reader's ability to comprehend what we are writing. 

Introduction to Hypertext Writing Style 
by Christopher B. Daly  

Gosh, I guess it is time that someone actually said it as clearly as Daly does in his introduction: 

    Good writing comes from having something to say and saying it well. This simple fact is equally true in any medium. It was true in the time of the ancients and was true in the time of the medieval monks. It remained true through the invention of the printing press, the typewriter and the word processor. It is truer than ever in the age of on-line publishing and hypertext. 
Of course it's true. But it is also true that having something to say and being able to say it are two different problems. Fortunately, Daly offers some useful tips and guidelines that, while not necessarily profound (e.g., "Given a choice between brief and long, choose brief"), are worth considering. 

Language 
based on Jutta Degener's list of "Dangerous Words"  

Please note that this list has nothing to do with George Carlin's infamous list of dirty words that can't be said on radio, or even journalistic writing. Rather, his "Dangerous Words" relate to common terms, phrases, and actions that we associate specifically with the web. For example, we are told never to say "click here" (for this or that) to occur. Of course, that's about the same thing as telling a TV news anchor to not say "stay tuned." Degener argues that these otherwise ubiquitous "web terms" (my words) not be used at all. Kind of a web version of "Precision Language." 

Writing Well for the Web; Quick and Easy Tips for Non-writers 
by Catherine Titta  

Catherine Titta has tips for writing text, headlines, etc., including writing in a conversational tone (sounds like J350), using action verbs (sounds like J350), using attention getting devices and descriptive writing (sounds like J231, J350, etc.), writing "tight" graphs, etc. She also has a good section on on-line (or is it "online") usage rules. For example, "Email vs. email vs. E-mail vs. e-mail." 

Driving a Newspaper On the Data Highway 
by Melinda McAdams  

OK. Finally. Some a little help for journalists who are working in the new media. But it is a bit dated, as the site notes that "an earlier version of this article appeared in the January 1994 issue of Quill, a magazine published by the Society of Professional Journalists. Its title there was 'Molding the Medium' (pp. 30-34). Please note that the article was written before I had used the Web, and I have not updated it substantially. The accompanying pages (listing related Web sites) are updated regularly." 

We Can Learn from Newspapers 
by Dan Bricklin et al.  

Also from the www.gooddocuments.com site, a section that will warm the hearts of news-ed sequence journalism majors. Maybe you thought you were learning about newspapers from Don Lambert, but in reality you were learning about web design, web writing, etc. Sorry Don. You are more hip than you ever wanted to be. 

Time Daily 
by Joshua Quittner  

In this "Email from the Editor," interim editor Joshua Quittner describes a recent shift in the approach to writing at Time Daily, the online site that offers up a — you guessed it — daily version of the magazine. Now Time staffers are trying to crunch out wisdom and analysis five days a week instead of just once a week. Good luck. 

Net Gain; Journalism's Challenges in an Interactive Age 
by J.D. Lasica  

This series of articles is less about writing than it is about attitude, but you have to believe that attitude will have some effect on writing, so I've included it. It especially makes the point that the web re-arranges the relationship between journalist and reader, bring the two muct closer together. 

Writing.org 
by Durant Imboden  

I'm cheating a little by including this chapter, because it is not specifically about writing for the web, but rather about writing in general. It is particularly for freelance writers who want to get some help along the way. While I'm off the subject, allow me to sneak in a link to the Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., and just for good measure the 11 Rules of Writing (none of which is about the topic of this "web book"). And try this translator from AltaVista site if you want to translate (well, "dump") your site into another language. 

The Web Writer 
by Steve Gilliard  

The most relevant sections are called Writing for the Web and Online Journalism. While not very long (in keeping with the philosophy of keeping it brief), I like their direct style, as well as links to zines like Smug (subtitled "Don't ask, don't tell"), which I didn't know about when I started this project. (By the way, it is. And I like it. I like Suck, too. But both are much more cool than I can manage on a regular basis.) A final word on Gilliard's site: it has lots more than just information on writing for the web. Want to know which computer to buy? How to get web space for your site? Gilliard's favorite quotes? They are all here. 

Good Documents 
by Dan Bricklin et al.  

Bricklin et al. have a good list of other sites. It is a good beginning point if you want to read more. And more. And more. . . . And I hope you do. Then come back and teach me!