With David Hamilton in the Content and Business track

Blog post on the presentation subject matter

It’s widely believed that all online content should be short to contend with diminishing attention spans. In fact, a common online response to long-winded pieces of writing is “TL;DR” (or “Too Long; Didn’t Read”).

Yet, there are many vibrant examples of how long-form content is being consumed and shared online, and even driving traffic. Many of the most popular websites include long, in-depth content, and communities like Medium and Narratively are built around the idea that people crave long content – as long as it’s worth their time.

However, keeping an audience hooked is a crucial aspect of long-form storytelling, which requires specific strategies to keep them engaged. This presentation will go over some of the fundamentals of long-form content, what stories are best suited to long-form, and what tools and techniques can be used in WordPress to create compelling long-form pieces.

Learning outcomes

• Discover where to find great examples of long-form online content.
• Identify what sorts of stories are best suited toward long-form.
• Build structure into longer stories.
• Incorporate multimedia (words, images, sound, and video) in your storytelling.
• Use tools and techniques in WordPress functionality and the Aesop Story Engine plugin to create engaging long-form experiences.