Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Meeting: Who Cares ...

... who spoke first, second or third at the meeting? Does that really impact reader understanding of the story at all?

In this case, I would argue it does not. Listing who spoke first or last or whenever doesn't matter and just wastes space.

Likewise, you should rarely -- if ever -- rank the use of quotes by the order in which people spoke. You use your best and most telling quotes first, regardless of when the person spoke.

You're not simply taking dictation; you are ranking information from most important to least.

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