I try to avoid using any variation of is because that turns a sentence into telling instead of showing. Is and was appear less in my writing, but they slip (the little stinkers) in on occasion. These tips come from my journey to do more showing and less telling in my writing.

Before we dive into the tips, I notice that popular non-fiction writing tends to use fiction-style writing by telling a story or using a theme. It makes the content more gripping and less drudgey (I didn’t want to say “dry” — that’s another thing I work to avoid… using common verbs and cliches).

Use specific active verbs that tell what’s happening: poke, race, bounce, spring.

Use of quotes lets the reader “hear.”

Describe a person’s reaction to let the reader “feel” the emotions. “Her jaw fell while her forehead crinkled as the whites of her eyes appear.”

Use pictures with precise words. Just read the comments in this FWJ Caption This Creative Project.

Avoid bland and redundant phrases. “She is in shock.” Does the phrase above sound better? OK, so we often hear of jaws dropping or falling and foreheads crinkling. I just couldn’t come up with a different way to say it when I needed it.

Use the five senses to create an image. The nose knows, the eyes see, the ears hear, the fingers feel, the mouth tastes.

Describe a person’s actions instead of telling the readers what s/he feels. She pushes her chair back while feeling the stiffness and pain on one side of her back. As she struggles to stand, her voice lets out a groan ending with a crackle that almost sounds like a cry. With every slow step she takes, she urges her back to straighten a little more. What do you think of this?

What other tips do you apply to captivate readers? I love Amy Derby’s plan to start a punk duck series. In fact, when she brought up her plans for the series… it led to a fun and engaging discussion. I want to do something like that (yeah, I’m a thief), but these brainstorming sessions keep flopping.

In 2000, I earned a certificate in Internet Technologies in hopes of becoming a Web designer. Working on the blog today reminded me why I changed my mind and went into writing instead.

Based on advice (you know who you are — I don’t want to put your name in here again and have people thinking I’m trying to make nice nice), I took off the excerpts on the main blog page so you don’t have to click the entry to see the full content.

But in doing this, my paragraphs disappeared (the extra blank line). The blog entries looked like a ruddy mess and hard to scan. I looked at the code and don’t see anything that would make paragraph <p> not add a blank line.

So back to excerpts because the unformatted content broke too many web content rules. Oh, the bolding was there as were the bullets, but the whitespace was terrible. Content overrules features when it comes to the following:

• Bold headings.
• Bulleted lists.
• Easy to find paragraphs.
• Short paragraphs and sentences.
• Text and background color contrast (too many blogs and web sites use gray for text with white backgrounds — this resembles reading in a fog. Black isn’t boring — black works.).

If my blog breaks these rules, then the feature will have to go away until I can solve the problem. So, the main blog page continues to use for technical and readability reasons and not for usability reasons.

Using a blog application, bloggers deal with the application’s quirks, CSS, templates, plug ins. So a problem might be buried in layers of CSS or code. In fact, Peter Shankman had problems with his WordPress: “… all of a sudden, after switching to Firefox and upgrading AVG, I can no longer upload photos to WordPress.”

I’ve had problems like this happen in the past where the solution meant disabling a plug-in. The problem with computers (especially Windows-based) is there are too many variables that can cause a problem. Even if you add one thing, it could be something you installed long ago that could be the cause of problems.

My computer needs a clean up as it has various problems. However, using registry cleaners and other cleaners could make things worse. I’ve used Registry First Aid, but it requires carefully reviewing changes before accepting them — and that took time.

Also tried CCleaner a long time ago — don’t remember why I stopped using it. I downloaded Revo Uninstaller, but haven’t tried it. Anyone have luck in safely cleaning a computer?

Comments. Trackback. Blogroll. E-mail updates. Digg This. Social Media links like Digg, Facebook, Reddit. Subscribe to this using one of many services. Top commenters. Most popular entries.

It can get messy and crowded. I was relieved to find the Share This, which compiles many social media sites along with an e-mail this feature into one nice box. The box only appears when you click on it, so it keeps the blog neat.

When reading blogs, I like these features:

• Comment: Leave it off and it sends a message that your readers’ opinions don’t matter.
• Subscribe: Both RSS link and by e-mail.
• Permalink: So I can directly link to the post instead of making people look for it. I’d rather not reference it than have people search for the post.
• About: Sometimes I want to know more about the site, blog, and person(s) behind it.
• Categories: Great for research and finding more content covering a specific topic without digging through all the posts.
• Archives: I do look at older posts when conducting research or trying to find something, but not specific enough to enter a keyword into a search box.

Just my opinion after almost eight years a blogging. Others may love the social media linking, tagging, digging, and top posts. I’ve been trying to research what feature are must haves for a blog and the opinions vary.

Not all blogs stand alone. This blog makes up a part of my business site. That’s why random testimonials appear on the side along with a subscription box for my monthly newsletter.

Some say the blog should be the home page for sites that contain content not related to blogging. I choose not to do this because not all prospective clients care about blogs. As a compromise, the latest blog entries appear on the home page. Of my current clients, only two have blogs and they’re not big on blogging.

People find a business site in many ways and landing on the home page with a blog might confuse the visitor. Although many have heard of blogging, they don’t all want to read blogs and get involved in the blogosphere.

What blog features do you like? Don’t like?

Don’t you hate it when you revisit content that you wrote a day or over a week ago and you find problems? If I had the luxury, I’d sit on most things for more than a day.

For short turn-around assignments, I write the first draft quickly and smooth it. Then I sit on it for at least an hour, if possible before doing the final read through. Every bit helps.

The nice thing about sitting on something is that more ideas come to me while doing something else. For game reviews, I often have a short turnaround time. Sometimes, I have to take a break from playing the game and writing the review because something else comes up.

Many times, a creative comment or idea pops up while I’m away from the computer and the game. So I use my smartphone to capture the thoughts before they get away.

However, I don’t apply the “sit on it” rule for blogging unless it’s a post for later.

So don’t feel guilty about taking a break. You’re still working by letting your brain rest or brainstorm during the rest period. That’s enough break for me, back to writing.

How content and design play together…

• In the game of chess (kind of hard to shake this analogy when you’re trying to avoid “Content is queen/king.”), the strategies and the moves equate to content. They fascinate chess players and chess fans. The board with its squares keep the content on track.
• Apple’s product designs for its Macs and iPod garner much attention for their beauty (design), but their insides also do the job well in managing all of the documents, music, and other files (content).
• Few race cars look as cool as a Porsche, Corvette, T-bird, Mustang, Miata, or pick favorite car. Advertising overtakes the look of the race cars and they look weird on the inside after someone tricks them out for racing purposes (design). But the speed, control, tires, etc. (content) matter more than the car’s exterior (unless you’re the advertiser, of course).
• MySpace is ugly (design). It’s hard to use until you get the hang of its features. Other social networking sites look better, but MySpace leads the crowd (or is in the top three). Yet, people from many target markets (teen, musicians, businesses) flock the site for what it offers (content). Plenty of sites rely on simple designs with little color, and they succeed.
• A movie can have beautiful cinematography (design), but no one will see it if they hear the story (content) stinks.

Moral: Content and design need each other, but 99.9% of the time — without content, design can’t do much. Google’s home page practically has no content (or design), but people know what to do.

As a deaf person — I hardly watched TV while growing up (pre-closed-captioned times). The pictures weren’t enough to keep my interest — only in cartoons.

Posted inspired by Just Creative Design’s big giveaway. So I’m a glutton for contests — only fun ones, though. Just try it with the text sucker on NetDisaster. Take out all the text and see what design tells you.

Netdisaster, an online toy/application, creates a disaster of your choice to a Web site. A great way to get that frustration with a Web site or company out of your system.

The site is a valuable tool for writers. Use the “text sucker” option, enter a Web address, and Go. Give the vacuum a moment to do its job (very cool effect). The result displays the Web page without text. Sure, a picture can say a 1000 words, but not in the case of most Web sites.

After all, “A word is worth a 1000 pictures,” says Jeff Sexton. He teases readers with his headline of “1000 tips for selling online without paying a copywriter.” The tip? Hire a copywriter times 1000. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Check out Yahoo! below after text sucker does its job.

Nielsen addresses whether a site’s content strategy should use longer or shorter content. The best answer: As long as it needs to be. Even Nielsen’s own article is long and I jumped around to get its main points.

Many experience success with both long and short articles. I wrote two versions of a landing page for one of my clients and the shorter version is outselling the longer. Both contain bulleted points and bold headers. The longer page contains more details.

Yet, longer copy will outperform for other products and services. The best thing to do is test two copies and see which has greater success. Past article, Follow the Long Yellow Copy explores long copy.

Your About Page Is a Robot caught my attention especially since I’ve been reviewing over 100 sites in a specific industry. Some don’t have About pages, some had them — but they were not helpful, and a select few succeeded.

The About page also gives your company a human touch. What your About page should contain depends on the size of your site and company, as well as the nature of your company. These sites I reviewed didn’t need anything elaborate as Ask.com’s About page.

Many companies use corporate speak when writing about their business in the About page. A yawner. When I simply want to know is what the company does — the answer comes in a long, fancy babble. No time for that or translating it into English.

Too many sites take the hard way in writing the About page. It’s OK to shoot for simple. Suggestions of what to consider adding in an About page especially small businesses:

* what the company does

* bios

* photos

* contact information (yes, even if you have a separate contact page) and more than one way to contact

* site information

* basic info

* appropriate call to action

The article explains a glaring problem with About pages.

Ms. Patience: For starters, I need to know what you do.

Dumb-bot: The Knock-Doodle Corporation is a global services and solutions provider.

Ms. Patience: All right…But what, exactly, do you do?

That’s the kind of stuff we run into. I looked at a potential client’s Web site to get a feel for what it does to determine what content is needed. What should’ve taken a minute took minutes to find out the answer to “What do you do?” A lot of the content sounded like Knock-Doodle Corporation’s response — just multiply by ten.

Ask a friend who doesn’t know your business to read the content and see how much she grasps.

We hear messages like “Do email newsletters!” “Start a blog!” “Build a forum!” “Provide a feed!” These sound like each is the only thing we should do to add content to Web sites. The way to go is to diversify your content. Invest a little here and a little there for a better return on your emarketing efforts.

Read about diversifying content and how to show clients you care in the February issue of eNewsletter Journal.

February ends tomorrow! Time to get moving!

From the sponsor: Diesel Jeans don’t have gasoline in them. The link takes you to a blog gives the lowdown on Diesel.

No matter what business a company is in, it can make its site useful for its visitors and turn them into eventual buyers. Cashing In with Content shows how to do that with 20 case studies of types businesses — ecommerce, business-to-business, nonprofits, healthcare, education and politics.

Every case study includes an interview with an employee who played a large role in the Web site’s direction. Also, the case studies have the following sections:

* What’s for sale
* What’s so interesting
* Why you should care
* Cashing in

This set up makes it easy to reference and find what you need.

The case studies are extra useful because they’re based on lesser-known sites rather than the biggies like eBay, Amazon, and others whose names often crop up. These are sites that businesses can follow as examples instead of seeing them as pricey or impossible to do like the biggies.

Scott closes the book with the 12 best practices and shows how each practice gets applied by using examples from the case studies. While “best practices” sounds like it’s full of theory and jargon, it’s not and that’s what makes the book successful. It’s about normal challenges with realistic and doable solutions. The book offers many solutions so businesses don’t have to worry about getting stuck with one that doesn’t suit them.

The book should be on the reading list of anyone involved with a business Web site.

Title: Cashing In with Content: How Innovative Marketers Use Digital Information to Turn Browsers into Buyers
Author: David Meerman Scott
Publisher: Information Today, Inc.
ISBN: 0910965714
Date: October 2005
Format: Paperback
Pages: 280
Cover Price: USD: $24.95 Amazon: $16.47