Embedded bullet-points and short-lists are other ways to communicate shorthand within text. Graphics (like easily understood charts) can likewise help illuminate the way for readers not engaged strictly for pleasure.
White space is almost always your friend. As a young staffer at a local newspaper, I remember advertisers who insisted on filling every possible white space with type or product description. These crowded displays always fail. I suspect that the advertiser so exhausted his customers just reading his ads, that they were too tired to visit his store.
A final quick note for today is the notion of sub-heads. A sub-head is a brief couple of words stuck in the middle of an otherwise deadly stick of gray type. Every few paragraphs, readers get a signal that the subject is changing and something is important. This is usually the final step for any of my columns and the heads aren't necessarily brilliant, but I think of it as a way to stick out a hand to the reader and drag him along through the important points of the story.
Most members of your reading audience are bright and engaged. They are also busy and stressed. Anything the writer can do to enhance the reading experience will be very much appreciated.
Al Portner's "The Assignment Desk, LLC" provides
creatives staffing for all your company's projects.
TAD offers prevetted writers, photographers,
and graphic designers.
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