One of the most frequent questions from workshop attendees
is "What do I do about too much text?"
Did you ever notice how any publication is like a
container? No matter how much space you've got, it always
seems to get filled up. Have you ever had a client call
with "just a few" revisions and additions and it turns out
to be several pages? What I'd like to know is how come the
article can get bigger but the page can't!
So many people in my workshops say "But Fred, I can't use
your great graphics tips because I have too much text!"
Here are a few suggestions for those times when you're on
deadline, and the copy is just a few lines longer than the
space you've designed for it...
1. Chop'till you drop...
Read the copy and look for areas where a little clipping
doesn't disturb the content of the piece. Sometimes near
the end of an article you may find whole paragraphs that
can go. Be ruthless. Sometimes you can find separate
paragraphs that deal with the same, or similar content. See
if you can combine them.
2. Kill the fluff...
Edit out nonessential words. I've never seen copy I
couldn't edit. I always look for paragraphs where a word or
two will pull up a line. Kill redundant words, or empty
adjectives (like "very" or "really" - many writers, put
these in and they really don't add too much to the content.
Ahem! Really?)
3. Tighten the spacing...
Sometimes a quarter-point can spell relief. Tighten the
leading if your software allows it in small doses. (Beware:
if you tighten a point or more, it may throw off the
overall look in relation to other editorial. Try it and
see.)
4. Tighten characters...
If software allows, try some kerning (tracking) in places
that look more "open" than others. Not much though. You
never want body text to touch. Stand back and squint at
your final output. If the kerning caused darkening of
passages of text, that means you did too much.
5. Check the tongue...
Look for over-wordy heads and sub-heads. Many times you can
rewrite these to be shorter... and more powerful. Read them
out-loud -- this really shows up the rough spots.
6. Test the pudding...
Look for multiple examples. Many writers will use an
example, followed by a second one, and sometimes a third.
Can one be cut?
7. Remove sub-heads...
Try using a bold or heavy set for the subs, as paragraph
lead-ins. This can be as effective as separating them out
as unique design devices.
8. Shrink the heads...
Try a point or so less for heads. Remember too, if the
heads are 24-point or larger, they can be
set solid (same leading as size: 24/24) or even negative
(24/22)
9. Give me a little squeeze...
Your reader shouldn't notice if you squeeze your heads a
bit. Try 95% horizontal compression. Sometimes this will
pull a two-line head into two. Be careful: do not squeeze
too much. It should NOT be noticeable.
10. Crop'till you Drop...
Did I say that? Look at graphics and pictures. See if an 80
to 90% reduction will help. Sometimes it makes a great
difference. Look for cropping opportunities in depth. Can
you tighten the top border of a photo closer to the
person's head? I'll bet you can.
11. Move'em out...
Move graphics or pictures and let them impose into margins.
Scaling and moving can sometimes open up half-column for a
runaround. Be careful... sometimes runarounds in themselves
cause fitting problems. If you are running around a graphic
(say) with ragged text, ask yourself if there's a better place to put the
art? Like in a spot where the lines are short anyway.
You'll also fit more text if you move that runaround to the
bottom of the page or section, where it will only run
around a portion of the graphic.
12. Trim'em down
Cutlines, captions, pull-quotes all take space. Reread your
captions to see if you can eliminate text repeated from the
article. Remember: captions are to note... not explain.
Many writers put too much in captions anyway. They should
never be more than two lines. One line is best. If the
article is about the person, specifically, you don't need a
caption at all!
Hope this helps.
If you'd like specific examples, and
samples, just let me know and I'll put them in a future
DT&G article. There's a lot you can do to get those
articles to fit without sacrificing your design or
graphics.
Fred Showker(Now, stepping down from his soap-box!)
PS: Call your favorite book store and order LINE BY LINE:
How To Improve Your Own Writing. This is a wonderful book
and sites many examples that will give you the power to
recognize baggy writing, and will tell you how to eliminate
it. Tightening text is an art, and this book will seriously
help you. It's by Claire Kehrwald Cook, published by
Houghton Mifflin Company (Two Park Street, Boston MA 02108)
ISBN: 0-395-39391-4. It will be the best $8.95 you ever
spent on that newsletter! Do it.