When is an e-mail just too long? A book of e-mail etiquette states that the maximum should be three paragraphs, I have learned; but, what does everyone agree to be a standard paragraph length? Five or six sentences - and how many words or phrases should there be in a normal sentence?
While discussing with friends online, it is easy to cut it short with IM chats, unless you just need to send that really long missive or the computer you're using isn't yours......
So, how long is too long for an e-mail - does your brain grow numb or more excited as you read the tome?
Bronx posted on Aug 31, 2007
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Comments
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polarheart said on Aug 31, 2007....
Hi Bronx! I dont mind long personal emails i.e. things that have been written specifically for me in mind, but I do struggle with long blogs and often dont read them. I dont have the luxury of time. So I want to pop in and out of blogs. -
Bronx said on Aug 31, 2007....
polar: hi....i agree with you....time does play an important role.
It creates more emphasis on the blog content when a post is short and sweet.
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the_infernal_optimist said on Sep 01, 2007....
If it's an email from a good friend, about a topic which interests me, and/or spaced properly, I have no problems whatsoever with a long, rambling email (I've been guilty of quite a few myself).
However, if it's just a wall of words, I lose interest fast. Blogs are the same way - I don't mind long posts, if they're interesting and are spaced so I can take a mental breath between paragraphs.
If an email/post is super-short, unless it asks something insightful, I find it difficult to respond sometimes. There's just not much to say to "Hi, how are ya? We're fine. You take care!" you know?
~Infernal
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Zayda said on Sep 01, 2007....
Bronx: Most Technical Communication and Business Communication textbooks (and I've read and reviewed plenty of those in my teaching career) recommend that an email message not be over a screen long in length, which is typically 3 - 4 paragraphs on an average 15 or 16-inch monitor (not widescreen). If the email is going to be longer, the textbooks recommend that the text be sent as an attached file with a short email message identifying the purpose and contents of the attached file.
The textbooks also make recommendations for font styles (Sans Serif fonts, such as Arial and Tahoma, are recommended for on-screen reading over fonts with Serifs, like Times New Roman) and font sizes (never below 12-point for on-screen reading is the most common recommendation).
As Infernal pointed out, though, it has a great deal to do with the reader and his/her preferences. I don't mind reading longer emails (or blog posts) as long as they aren't a block of words (wall of words). And really, where most people seem to run into trouble with email and blog posts is that they abandon standard formatting practices like paragraphs.
Abandoning standard formatting practices can be more than a formatting issue though. It can be a focus issue and an organizational issue. When writers get rid of paragraphs, they "violate" readers expectations of format, focus (one topic/main idea/point per paragraph), and organization (the point in the next paragraph continues the point in the previous paragraph or is a new point but there is a clear connection between this new point and the last one). -
Bronx said on Sep 01, 2007....
TIO: hi...ha-ha...point well noted. -
Bronx said on Sep 01, 2007....
Zayda: hello.....Thanks, Prof....
Yes, I tend to be partial to Arial Bold and a font size of 14 for text and 16 for headings - Times New Roman tends to look very skinny on a page, even in bold lettering.
I also agree that paragraphs should be meaningfully interconnected - it's such a pity that many bloggers really violate such simple rules while putting down their thoughts in writing.
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silverwhisper said on Sep 02, 2007....
for formal e-mails, i agree w/ super z. but for informal ones, all the rules are out, except that (and here i agree w/ infernal) the lighting of a block of text is something a writer should keep in mind.
there are several soulcasters whose blog entries i sometimes try to read and can't b/c there are insufficient paragraph breaks or the paragraphs themselves are over one screen in length.
ed -
Bronx said on Sep 02, 2007....
SW: I know what you mean - a wall of text seems so out of control without paragraph breaks.