Video content is gaining popularity lately and indeed a lot of users prefer watching instead of reading. However, there is no way that the written text may vanish forever and there will be no audience for the reading material. Though, it is quite fair that to keep the reading interest alive the written text must be rebranded from the writing perspective. Everything changes and the way people perceive the world changes massively as well. Reading is known to help with this perception. Therefore, the text must align with the audience’s preferences via maintaining their present-day vision of how things are going around. Let’s see what might ignite reading enthusiasm.
The beginning is everything
Whatever you write about you must start the way nobody will reject the idea of reading further. The goal is to hook the readers from the very beginning. They had their own reasons to consider your text for reading. Your introduction either saves you or dooms you. That’s why knowing your audience, find the weak points ( in this case those that trigger the zest for knowing more) and hit right away. Talk to your audience, puzzle them, ask provocative questions ( as provocative as the whole situation permits), provide a situation that they’ve all been through ( target readers data), etc. Such interaction builds a connection and lures us to keep on with going from line to line.
Are you on YouTube?
It is true that we are trying to make people engage in reading rather than watching. However, it is a decent way to promote your textual content by giving the audience just a hint of what value might your post add to their lives. Entice them to follow the link by being so irresistibly persuasive that the only solution to their problem they will see is nothing but your writing piece. Video creation is, of course, another topic, but there is a plethora of information on this topic. In short: start your account, harness design apps ( thumbnail maker for youtube, youtube intro maker, etc.), be friendly, and use your voice to guide your audience to the text, but do not spill too much.
5 sentences win attention
No, it doesn’t mean that you have to write only five sentences. When your paragraph is divided into blocks of five sentences it is proven to keep readers at ease during reading. This means they do not get tired while interacting with your text and are likely to finish it when it ends, not when they have decided so. There are famous authors whose chapters may be filled with a sentence that lasts two pages. You should not experiment and keep your paragraphing friendly for the reader.
Audience-driven writing
Every morning, at dawn or later, you write in your journal. That writing is for you and not meant for others to read. When blogging, or contributing to some informative source you definitely expect people to get involved in reading, thinking through, expressing their comments, and provoking heated discussions. Any idea how to make that happen? Easy! You must know exactly who you write for. Your target audience will define any writing choice you will make. Knowing the demographics, it will be easy to know what word alternatives will break the wall keeping interested and let it surge. Deciding to add some humor you will be placing your choice on what category of people read and what they are used to laughing at. Comparisons, examples, references must be clear to your audience.
Inspire curiosity
The readers found your text and stopped their search on exactly your title. Why? That’s simply because your content must solve their problems, guide them to the light, and finally put their ordeal to the end. It would be unfair to them to lead them to the point where you blur the lines of exact instructions and let them search for more somewhere else. However, some information that is relevant to the topic, though not concerning the main idea and purpose for writing, may be delivered in a way that provokes some further interest to read about. It would be nice if your posts can provide them with that. No, no backlink is needed, it’s too easy and impersonal in this case. Let them be the explorers and feel proud of learning something that they had a far-fetched idea about.
To sum up
Fighting for the audience’s interest in the reading matters, the writer must take care of the readers first. Knowing their preferences helps to outline the writing campaign that will produce the most fruitful outcome. Written text is expected to trigger an action since there is always a purpose for writing. The better you deliver it the more people will do what it motivates them to.
