Don't Forget To Write
Dale Dougherty-WebReview.com
Full Article

Good writing doesn't often get the attention it deserves on the Web.Graphics, animations, and audio/video -- all grab the headlines. Text just isn't cool. The job of a writer is not to produce words, but to communicate with words. The writer helps solve communication problems.

• Writers help organize information. The writer must force decisions about what's most important by understanding the reader's point of view.
  
• Writers help get the message out. Not enough sites ever make a point -- or deliver a message. It's like visiting a friend who talks a long time and you can't remember anything he or she said afterwards. Often the writer's job is to figure out what the real message is and then find a clever or interesting way of getting it across.
  
• Writers are translators, interpreters. There is a real need to translate or interpret any message to make it right for this medium. The writer must find a new expression of the message for it to be effective. In a corporate setting, the writer tries to balance the goals of business people who have a message to communicate with the needs and interests of people for whom the message is intended. The writer must serve both sides well.

The online reader sits with hand on mouse while scanning text on a monitor that's at an uncomfortable distance away.Don't take too long to make your point, the reader says, or I'll move on.

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