4 Poetic Tricks To Grab Online Readers’ Attention

I picked stocks for 30+ years; today I sift through words.

For months now,  I’ve attended oodles of poetry workshops, classes and readings. I’ve also studied how to write online with @nicolascole77 and @dickiebush’s Write the Ship and Ship 30 for 30. Poetry and online writing have a lot more in common than you’d think.

Poetry is the real OG of  holding readers’ attention.

We turn to poetry when we need to express what we feel deeply, and when our own words fail us. Poetry has filled a need for thousands of years. Still, If you’re not a poetry nerd, it’s not an everyday read. 

On the other hand, we are constantly scrolling online. We use social media when we’re bored and want to be entertained, educated or do business. A lot competes for our attention, from cat videos to breaking news.

The use cases may be different, but both have similar rules: 

1. Catch the reader’s attention or die 

2. Give the reader a reward

3. Lay out matters

4. Cut unneeded words

Here are a few techniques online writing should steal from poetry, by rule: 

1. Listen! Address the reader head on — they’ll become invested. Use specific, colorful nouns and strong verbs.  Juxtapose words. Sprinkle unusual words. These all grab and hold attention.

2. Do something unexpected at the end. The reader must leave satisfied, with a feeling, a message, or a surprise. 

3. Lay out your text to support your message. Online, the page rather than the eyes scrolls, so make it easy for eyes to “hook” on the text. Use white space to draw attention.

4. Slash every word that doesn’t whisk your reader to the scene, unfold the story, blow their mind, or leave ‘em in tears.

Photo credit: Library of Congress on Unsplash