Can You See Me Now???

Can You See Me Now??? 

Ok, let’s try this again.  Sheila Anderson expressed her frustration in a recent post about trying to read small fonts in posts. And, many of us are in agreement. 

We really do want to read your posts and the words of wisdom you want to share with us but in all honesty, our eyes are getting older and can’t handle the <14 size font. 

Add to that the wonderful wall of words, the lack of the occasional bold type to wake us up, and no photos or clip-art to speak of ....well, even John Grisham or James Patterson would have a hard time getting anything read here. 

What I would suggest to you IF (and keep in mind, it is YOUR blog) you want others to read what you write…

Minimum Size 14 Font…

Not this or this. 

If you seem to be having trouble formatting your blog, you might try writing it in Google Docs first, then copy and paste it to the ActiveRain editor. 

White Space…

Our eyes need a break. White space gives our mind time to process what we just read (I made that up but it sounds good.) It also gives our eyes a break. 

I use 1.15 between lines. You may also want to indent and add an additional space between paragraphs. 

Keep Paragraphs Short…

I had to read paragraphs that were 8 or 10, 20 sentences or more when I was in graduate school and I did it because I had to. (I also inhaled lots of black coffee)

Don’t do that here. Break up your paragraphs to fewer sentences to keep the reader reading. 

Try to Refrain From Screaming at Your Reader

Just as fonts under size 14 are too small to read, you also don’t want to scream at your reader with a whole post of size 18 or more font! 

Colors Can Be Distracting

While it can be fun to play around with colors (and yes, I do use one different color in my title and sometimes my quotes) try not to get too carried away. That said, I read an interesting article about reading and color gradients that is very interesting, especially as most of us are not reading on our screens)

Wake Us Up With Bold Type

Every so often, bold your word or a phrase to make it stand out and wake us up. 

Add Clip Art or a Photo

We’re only human and we love to look at pictures. Add one or two to help our eyes walk down the page. Just make sure that the photo or clip-art is yours to use (purchased with permission to use or taken with your own camera)

And Finally...Avoid the Wall of Words

This ties in with the white space and the addition of photos. No matter what you write and how interesting it is, it’s hard to get any of us, dedicated as we are, to read a wall of words. 

Nothing about any of this is etched in stone at ActiveRain other than avoiding copyright infringement.  These are merely hints that will help others in reading your blog!