short-and-straight – Page 26

Why would someone read your story

August 16, 2012December 15, 2013 Akshat RathiLeave a comment

With a flood of news available to every reader today, why would someone want to read what you write?

William Blundell in The Art and Craft of Feature Writing has, what he calls, the laws of progressive reader involvement. Or as I call it, why would I read your crap:

Tease me, you devil: Intrigue me a little. Give me a reason for going on with your story instead of doing something else. Remember, I have no investment in you at all.
Tell me what you’re up to: Enough teasing. What is your story really about? Please, no windy explanations, no details – just what’s going on here.
Oh yeah? You’ll have to prove what you just said. Let’s see your logic. Let’s see your evidence. I’ve invested time in you by now, so I’ll be patient – but you better be convincing
I’ll buy it. Help me remember it. Make it clear. Make it forceful. And put an ending on it that will nail it into my memory.

Opinionated

July 10, 2012December 22, 2013 Akshat RathiLeave a comment

Anyone who for long pursues the calling of a job in opinions eventually arrives at the condition of an intellectual slot machine. If the penny is inserted, either by the asking of a question or by the happening of an event, then the wheels will turn and a nicely packaged opinion will emerge.

– Geoffrey Crowther, editor of The Economist (1938-1956)

The internet is cool

May 28, 2012December 15, 2013 Akshat RathiLeave a comment

The internet is cool. We all know it. But why?

Seth Godin puts it succinctly:

The dryest, cleanest environment of all is the digital one. Code stays code. If it works today, it’s probably going to work tomorrow.The wettest, weirdest environment is human interaction. Whatever we build gets misunderstood, corroded and chronic, and it happens quickly and in unpredictable ways. That’s one reason why the web is so fascinating—it’s a collision between the analytic world of code and the wet world of people.