Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of editing and refining content to cater to reader engagement, suggesting that writers should "write twice, publish once" to ensure their articles are concise and impactful.

Abstract

The author of the article draws a parallel between writing a good article and the carpentry adage "measure twice, cut once," highlighting the necessity of careful selection and editing of content. Initially, the author compiled a lengthy article with ten tips on self-confidence, only to realize that the piece was too long to maintain reader engagement. An editor from "Curious" suggested condensing the article to half its length, focusing on the most compelling tips and personal stories. This approach led to the article's success and front-page feature. The author advises that for list articles, one should write twice as many items as needed and then select the best for publication. Similarly, essays and opinion pieces should be trimmed of extraneous details and weak points after an initial draft. The article concludes by recommending that writers create a "highlights reel" of their content to combat short reader attention spans and avoid the pitfalls of multi-part articles, which tend to lose readership over time.

Opinions

The author believes that reader engagement is paramount and is influenced by the length and quality of the content.
It is suggested that the best content is a result of a rigorous selection process, where only the most impactful and actionable information is presented.
The author opines that the common practice of writing series can be detrimental to reader engagement, as subsequent parts typically see a significant drop in readership.
The article posits that the value of what is published is enhanced by what is deliberately not included, advocating for a selective and minimalist approach to writing.
The author's experience indicates that in the realm of self-improvement and productivity, brevity and depth in articles are more effective than longer, more superficial pieces.

Write Twice, Publish Once

Building a good article is like any other carpentry project

“Measure twice, cut once.” That’s the sage advice given to every new student of carpentry. If you cut a board in the wrong place, you haven’t just wasted your time. You’ve ruined the board.

If you didn’t catch your mistake, you’ve also caused a huge problem in your project. Who knows how far the project has gone before the mistake is discovered? Future boards that have been attached need to be pulled apart, and the assembly work redone.

I recently discovered that the same is true of writing a good article.

I was researching the best ways to increase self-confidence. I had compiled ten tips, each with an example story. It was great information!

It was also a 20-minute read.

The editor of Curious who read it had very kind things to say about the content. She also laid out a few facts about the reality of reader attention spans.

What readers want

Pop culture readers want quick sound bites. They are the people Medium’s new “short format” was designed for.

Traditional readers want longer, in depth explorations of topics. Longer, but not “long”.

The sweet spot for reader engagement varies depending on the publication. It is likely to fall somewhere in the 5–9 minute range. Marketing gurus recommend longer articles than that. The theory is, if a reader makes it all the way to the end, they’re yours. But that doesn’t matter if you’re not trying to sell something.

The length of the sweet spot also varies based on the type of material you’re covering.

I write mostly in self improvement and productivity. It’s no surprise that the productivity articles that do best are the shorter ones. Meanwhile, the self improvement articles that do best are in depth. One point explored deeply works better (at least in my experience) than ten at a high level.

Reader engagement also falls off for second or third articles in a series. It’s natural, when you think about it. Would you want to go to see a movie called Box Office Smash, Part 2 if you hadn’t seen Part 1? Of course not!

So the potential readership of part 2 of a series is not your entire potential readership. It’s the people who read part 1. Given that only a fraction of those probably see the new article, it’s no wonder the numbers plummet.

Pick your favorites

The editor had an excellent suggestion for me. She suggested that I take my 20-minute article containing 10 tips, and choose my favorite 5. That would cut the article into the range where it was likely to get reader engagement.

What it would also do is to weed out the weakest tips.

There were tips that, while helpful, were things that people had already heard a million times. There were excellent tips with stories that were probably familiar to the audience.

So the 5 favorites I was left with combined the best tips with the strongest, most personal stories. They were the ones most likely to have an impact upon the reader.

The revised article was not only accepted, it was featured on the front page of Curious.

What this means for you

As Sara Barnes said in her article, what you choose not to say makes what you do say more valuable. So “write twice, publish once” to make your writing as valuable as you can.

In a list article

When you’re writing a list article, write twice as many items as you think you’ll need. For a top 3 article, write 6. For a top 5 article, write 10.

Write them all to the best standard that you can. Then let them sit a day or so. Read them over again.

Which are your favorites? Which provide the best, most actionable information? Which have the most compelling stories associated with them? Which will have the most impact on the reader?

Keep those, and cut the rest.

In an essay or opinion piece

Structure your essay or opinion piece the way you usually do. Create your main point and your supporting points. Add your illustrations for your supporting points.

Write them all to the best standard that you can. Then let them sit a day or so. Read them over again.

Are there any points that can be combined? Any illustrations that can be trimmed down to avoid irrelevant details? Any supporting points that, frankly, don’t provide much support?

Trim away everything that weighs the piece down.

Conclusion

Readers have short attention spans. Don’t include all your research or illustrative stories in a single article.

Don’t spread your research or article material out over parts, either. The readership for parts 2 and onward drop off dramatically.

Instead, cut your article so that you keep only the best bits. Make it a highlights reel of the original article.

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