White space is your friend. Use it. Ok?

Your reaction is predictable when you come to a web page that’s all text.

It’s negative. You’re overwhelmed. I bet you pass it up.

Big blocks of text are barriers to the reader’s experience. That’s stating the obvious, I know. But making white space your friend when you write text isn’t used enough.

I see it over and over again that people write big blocks of text. Then they wonder why nobody reads what they wrote.

Here’s the simple solution. Break things up.

Think about little chunks. Bit-size morsels. A handful. It’s similar to how you eat, right?

However you want to think about it or put it, do us all a favor. Embrace the white space. Declutter.

I’m also hoping it will help you automatically start writing simpler, cleaner copy. Making it less dense and easier to read and understand.

I believe we call that a win-win.

Be a maker this year. Make things great.

Over the past couple of months I’m in a “making” frenzy. A creative frenzy.

I made two cutting boards. Helped a son and daughter-in-law do a board and batten wall in their nursery.

Made a desk for another son. Got an idea for a nightstand to make for another son.

I’m making sourdough cinnamon raisin bread this morning. Going to make spaghetti noodles and bread later today.

I have this theory about it.

At work I’ve been doing more editing than writing. I’ve been organizing, working with schedules and spreadsheets and in meetings — many meetings.

I’m about six weeks into a new job and learning about new timelines and processes. I’ve done an amazing amount of onboarding as part of three different organizations. I’ve also had time off over the holidays.

That drive to create isn’t being fed. That drive to write and market and brand and persuade. So it manifests itself in other ways.

I challenge myself to try new things and make new things outside of work. It makes me happy.

I also learn from them. I learn about processes, crafting, refining.

My next cutting board will be a little better. So will my next desk and nightstand.

The next batch of noodles I make will go better than the first.

It’s no different in writing and editing. I keep challenging myself in my writing.

I look back over what I’ve written this past year and two years and five years and see ways to improve. Cleaner. Clearer. Simpler. Better.

What about you? What are you doing better?

Here’s the real question: What WILL you do better in 2021?

Know what you’ll do better and how you’ll do it. Come up with a plan. Challenge yourself.

Seek a mentor. Seek an editor. Ask for help.

Write. A lot.

Make something. Then make it better. Make it greater.

Tell a good story. Write simply. Connect with audiences.

The goal of writing isn’t to sound smart. Don’t try and impress people with big words and fancy sentences.

Tell a story. Make it simple. Write like you talk.

The goal is connecting. You want people to read what you write.

Maybe you entertain them, or inform them and persuade them through humor or a tender story or tap into another emotion.

I learned about these things as a journalist when I developed my own brand of writing. Writing with style or flair. My editor called it “Matt Sabo style” and would ask me to write a “Sabo style” article.

I’ll give you an example. This is a story I wrote about a raid on a motorcycle repair shop in a rural Virginia community that got, well, interesting. I took an ordinary story and had fun with it.

A Virginia moonshine operation

Take the ordinary and give it your own style.