Break up the gray

The white space is a visual form of ventilation for the text.

Roy Peter Clark, Murder Your Darlings

The New York Times has often been called "the old gray lady" for a good reason. It's not as gray as it once was — photographs have appeared on the front page for years now— but it's still more gray than most newspapers. The Wall Street Journal, once equally gray, now even puts color photos on page one, and not all the headlines are the same size.

When I worked for a newspaper, we often mentioned "white space" when talking about page design. Break up large blocks of type with photos and other design elements. Give the reader's eye a break. Leave some small spaces entirely free of ink, especially on lifestyle covers.

Roy Peter Clark is thinking the same way above with respect to any kind of writing. Basically what he means is: Write shorter paragraphs. This is the newspaper way, but it works for other kinds of writing, as well.

Why did I start a new paragraph right here? To create white space. To break up what could be one long paragraph into shorter paragraphs that give the reader a little relief.

Long paragraphs, like long sentences or even a series of long words, can become tedious. Readers can easily lose their way, especially if distracted in the middle of a long paragraph. Even simple ideas seem more complex in long paragraphs, while shorter paragraphs seem to give readers more time to digest difficult ideas.

I like Clark's phrase "visual form of ventilation." White space on a page can be a breath of fresh air or simply a chance to take breath. Even the leading, or the space left between lines, helps with this. The more white space, the breezier it all seems. 

Imagine trying to read the old copy of the New York Times shown above. How many of us today would even attempt it?