From the course: Writing with Impact
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Go where the eyes are
- Most of this course applies to all kinds of writing, including writing for video and audio, but a lot of writing is done for the eye, not the ear. Some of it is very short. A few words for slogans, ad copy, and so on. These make an instant impact as they hit your eye all at once. But longer text can also be made more eye-catching. You just need to know how the reader's eyes move over the text. Let's start on the smallest level, letters and words. This simple phrase contains a wealth of clues to help the reader understand its meaning within a second. The letter themselves have bits rising above and falling below the main part. These are known as ascenders and descenders, and they give each word a distinctive shape. Studies have shown that people read quickly in part just by recognizing these shapes. That's also why writing in all capital letters or all caps paradoxically hides your message by giving all the letters the same basic shape. This is just the tiniest peek into the…
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