Via JPROF, a post by Jim Stovall: Writing for the web: guidelines for an introductory writing class. Excerpt:
-- No story should be more than 200 words unless there is a compelling reason for it.
--Summaries should be a maximum of 35 words.
-- Headlines should be a maximum of eight words. They should be abstracted sentences. That is, they must contain a subject and a verb and be as specific as possible. No puns, no play-on-words. Use alliteration only when it makes sense. In the words of Jakob Nielsen, they should be “pearls of clarity.”
-- Use lists when appropriate. Teach your students how to create lists. Check out what I say about lists in the third lecture on writing for the web.
-- Paragraphs should be a maximum of two sentences and 50 words.
-- Only one direct quotation per story. Direct quotations generally do not pull their informational weight. They add a bit of color and character to the story, but that’s about it.
-- Every story should contain at least one in-line link to additional information. The link should be constructed in a way so that the reader will have a good idea as to where the link goes. Check out this article on linking on JPROF. Teach your students how to set up a link in HTML.
-- Teach the concept of key words. Students should identify key words and put the tag around them. The goals of our writing should be to deliver as much information to the readers as quickly as possible. Send the readers on their way satisfied, and they will return.I wouldn't agree with all these rules; at The Tyee, stories range all the way from 500 words to 2000 or even more. But the items we post on our politics blog, The Hook, come fairly close to Stovall's guidelines.
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