Comments on: Writing content to the lowest common denominator??

By: Stuff you should be reading | 11.20.08 » Reading, Writing and Big Ideas

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:55:48 +0000

[...] Writing content to the lowest common denominator? So, is it necessary to write to lowest reading level of the audience? [...]

By: Nikki Massaro Kauffman

Nikki Massaro Kauffman — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:46:34 +0000

George,

We had this talk on Twitter, but I thought I’d share it for the benefit of the community.

Communication is a personal passion of mine. The deadly combination of higher ed + IT makes us doubly doomed to get caught up in our own jargon that we forget to actually communicate.

No one, not even the best and brightest of us, curls up and reads the Web cover-to-cover. Your suggestions of using bullet points and tables are very helpful to people who might for get this.

Thanks for sharing!

By: Andrew Careaga

Andrew Careaga — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:06:11 +0000

GREAT to see a post here about writing, my first love. (And yes, there is a difference between writing and blogging.) I agree that the writing style and voice of the author — or “content creator” as writers are sometimes called these days (ick) — should carry the day, and if the writer is a pro at copy or news writing, he or she should know how to connect with the reader.

Interesting that the reading level of SLCC’s site was on a par with the Harvard Law Review. Not good. Writing for the web, especially, should be conversational, accessible and informative.

Reading levels are important, and a low reading level doesn’t mean low quality. John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway wrote at about the sixth or seventh grade levels, if I recall correctly, and those guys were no slouches when it comes to cranking out good copy.