本文转载自WordPress啦！
有些作者写文章似乎不知道何时该停下来，他们漫漫其谈，内容教条化、理论化并无休止，完全不忘记了它给所有读者带来的痛苦。
为了避免同样的尴尬，你很可能尽量缩短你的文章，真的碰上观点内容比较长的，你把它分成了好几篇文章来发表。没必要一次性向大家塞过多的信息，对吧？
话虽然有道理，但是奇怪的是并不一定如此。
Copyblogger很多比较受欢迎的文章都超过一千字。但有时，很短的文章却特别受欢迎。似乎文章的长短跟文章最终是否受欢迎没有太大的影响。
这怎么回事呢？ 这讲起来还真有点抽象，或许我们来做个类比理解起来会轻松一些。
文章长度 —好莱坞电影风格
你是否看过很长的电影，虽然很长但却异常精彩，扣人心弦呢？
彼得杰克逊的《指环王》1-3长达十个小时以上。还有《泰坦尼克号》尽管长达三个小时多，却是票房最高的电影。实际上，如果都要举出来，我们可以列出很多超过三个小时或将近三个小时的获奖电影。
那短片怎么样呢？也会有很精彩的，对不对？
皮克斯最近有部电影，就96分钟。还有我个人非常喜欢的电影Bubba Ho-tep，也就92分钟。还有迪斯尼经典的影片:《小姐与流氓》(73 分钟), Bambi (70 分钟), Dumbo (64 分钟)。
电影的长短为何会显得如此不重要呢?
如果你也是一个影迷，答案就不难揭晓了：电影的长短取决于故事情节的需求。 有些故事如《指环王》需要花10个小时才能讲得完，而有些如《酷狗宝贝》却只需三十分钟或更短的时间就行了。关键在于把故事情节叙述清楚需要多长时间，然后精心编剧尽可能地压缩，使剧情更紧凑。
我想写博客也是如此吧。
文章长短的真谛
文章长并不是一件坏事，短文件也未必就不好。实际上，文章的长短跟文章质量的好坏没有什么关联。
重要的是:
1. 写出真正有意思的东西
2. 剔除一切无聊的内容
这就够了。
有时候需要3700字才能阐述一个观点，有时候，只需几句话就行。关键在于用尽可能少的字把观点表达清楚。 更专业一点来讲，就是写作要“紧凑、精炼”。无论长短，只要文章无法再压缩了，效果都是一样的。
著名的Blogger最近做为Copyblogger的投稿人Michelle Russell，称之为“writing with a knife（创作时带把刀）” — 也许这是对写作过程的最好比喻。明天将会邀请她来给大家解释下这句话的含义，同时给你们提些建议，如何来删除你文章多余的内容。
在那之前，我先来阐明最后一点：
为何文章是否紧凑能成为生存的关键呢？
很长的文章并不会把读者吓跑，但是冗长的文章却会。先前，读者还能容忍，因为博客对他们来说是个新鲜的事物，也只有几个专业的作家写文章，不过很快就变了，现在，博客被置于一个与杂志、报纸同等的位置，读者期待我们发表的内容尽可能精炼。
我们所有的博客撰写者都要做好准备来满足读者的期望，紧凑的写作已然不是你应该做的，而变成关乎你的博客能否生存这样一个高度了。
如果你想看到你的博客在将来的几年能够不断发展，受大家的欢迎，不光光是键盘、鼠标就可以在空白的文档上完成文章的书写，你还要带上一把“刀” 及使用“刀”的勇气。
附原文：
Do Long Blog Posts Scare Away Readers?
Some writers don’t seem to know when to shut up. They ramble and pontificate and theorize, seemingly oblivious to the agony it’s causing everyone else.
To avoid this awful fate, you probably try to keep your posts short, chopping up longer ideas into a series of posts. No need to scare away readers by dumping too much information on them all at once, right?
Makes sense, but what’s weird is it doesn’t work that way.
Many popular posts here at Copyblogger are over 1,000 words. But other times, short posts pack the most punch. It’s almost as if the length of a post has no impact whatsoever on how successful a post becomes.
How could that be?
We’ve already given you the copywriting theory behind why this is, but I’m the first one to admit that it’s a little . . . abstract. Maybe an analogy would help bridge the gap.
Examining Post Length — Hollywood Style
Ever watched a long movie that was totally awesome?
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, which clocks in at over 10 hours, comes to mind. There is also Titanic — still the highest grossing movie of all time despite running over three hours. In fact, we could make a pretty long list of award-winning movies that approach or cross the three hour mark.
What about short movies? Those can be awesome too, right?
Pixar’s latest movie, Up, was only 96 minutes long. Then there is Bubba Ho-tep (a personal favorite), clocking in at 92 minutes. And let’s not forget some of the classic Disney movies: Lady and the Tramp (73 minutes), Bambi (70 minutes), Dumbo (64 minutes).
How could it be that the length of movies could be so unimportant?
If you’re much of a movie buff, the answer is obvious: it depends on the story. Some stories like Lord of the Rings take 10 hours to tell. Others, like a really cracking Wallace and Gromit episode, can be told in 30 minutes or less. The key is figuring out how long it’ll take to tell your story, and then editing it mercilessly so that the film is as tight as possible.
Hmm . . . maybe the same is true for blogging.
The Truth about Post Length
A long post isn’t wrong. A short post isn’t wrong. In fact, the length of a post has nothing to do with how good or bad it is.
Here’s what matters:
- Writing something that’s interesting
- Taking out everything that’s not interesting
That’s it.
Sometimes, it takes 3,700 words to make an idea stand out. Other times, all you need is a few sentences. What’s important is that you do your idea justice in as few words as possible.
Professionals call it writing “tight.” Long or short, the piece couldn’t possibly be any shorter and create the same effect.
Blogger and recent Copyblogger contributor Michelle Russell calls it “writing with a knife” — perhaps the best metaphor I’ve heard to describe the process. Tomorrow, she’s going to explain what she means, as well as give you some easy-to-implement tips for cutting away all the fat from your prose.
Until then, let me make this one final point:
Why Tight Writing Is a Matter of Survival
Long blog posts don’t scare away readers; sloppy writing does. Once upon a time, readers tolerated it because the blogosphere was a new and informal place with few professional writers, but that’s quickly changing. Now, blogs are being placed on the same pedestal as magazines and newspapers, and readers expect us to deliver content that’s just as polished.
All of us have to be ready to meet those expectations. Tight writing isn’t just another one of those things that you should do. It’s becoming a matter of survival.
If you want to see your blog grow and flourish over the coming years, you’ll need to come to the blank page not with a mouse and keyboard, but also with a knife . . . and the courage to use it.
More on how to do this tomorrow.
About the Author: Jon Morrow is Associate Editor of Copyblogger and Cofounder of Partnering Profits. Get more from Jon on twitter.
