Writing for Mobile | Fiona Brichaut
The BelEdit Book Reviews blog would be incomplete without a review of Writing for Mobile: How to write gripping content for easy mobile reading. Why? Because I wrote it myself.
So unlike my other book reviews, this review is 100% biased. And also, it’s not really a review, more a blatant promotion.
Who is it for?
Anyone who writes and who would like to write better, including:
- writers, editors and other communications professionals
- amateur content writers, bloggers or people writing their first book
- students and people in business who would like to make an impact with their writing.
What you can learn from Writing for Mobile
- How to write text that grabs and holds readers’ attention.
- How to write text that’s easy to scan, for people who don’t want to read every word.
- A new method to structure text to captivate readers: the inverted ladder.
- How to convert ‘information’ into ‘messages’.
- How to identify, prioritize and use key messages and keywords.
- How to find the right writing style.
- 10 rules for writing text that’s easy and enjoyable to read.
- How to edit and proofread your text.
Is it just about mobile?
No, certainly not! But if something is well written so that it’s gripping to read on a mobile, it will definitely work on a larger screen or in print! The method in the book is applicable to writing for any media.
I admit the title Writing for Mobile is misleading. I still can’t find a good way to make it clear (in less than 5 words) that writing for mobile sets the bar for readability in any media.
What’s special about writing for mobile?
There are plenty of resources on writing for the web. But they are saying the same things that have been said for nearly 25 years. They say precious little about how to write content BOTH for the web and mobile, or just for mobile. Yet today, content is more often than not read on a mobile device with a small screen. And in that environment, it’s constantly competing for the reader’s attention with all the other tempting goodies within your mobile phone: apps, news, social media, games… a vast universe of content. Content must be extremely usable and appealing if it’s to hold readers’ attention.
Old advice on writing for the web was ‘keep it short’. But not all content CAN be kept short. Moreover, you get better traffic to a site with more long pages of text (it’s about Google and SEO). To make long content appealing, you need to break it down into manageable chunks.
I developed the method described in this book over many years of writing content. I’ve trained other writers to do it. If you read this book and apply the method — even just parts of it — I guarantee it will help you to write better.
Search for “Writing for Mobile Fiona Brichaut” on Amazon
I’ve written several guides for writers on my business website. These include: how to write for the web; how to write for business; why you should use digits instead of writing out numbers; and more. Check them out here!