OVERHAULED: What makes me read an article?

Bold, striking and fearless headlines -- that's the first thing that catches my attention and more often than not, is the very thing that makes me read an article.

Skimming down to the bottom, I look for intelligent, entertaining and informative content. I believe that no matter how serious an article is, there is always room for it to be more interesting -- even if it's straight news. However, I prefer a mixture of the three aforementioned chracteristics.

What matters to me the most is the structure and style of the article. I like it best when the writer is able to capture the essence of the whole story, in the simplest possible terms without undermining the intelligence of the readers.


Lastly, I'm a big fan of the overly-eloquent writing style. Note that I didn't say "overly-eloquent writers". I don't really keep track of the names of the writers. (I always say my favorite print journalist is Conrado de Quiros for the reason that he is the only one among the writers who write this way, whose name stuck in my mind). Truth is, I have no favorite writer -- only a favorite writing style. In my opinion, those who write using this style are courageous people who are not afraid of critcism. I'm a sucker for articles written in this style. Give me one, and I'm sure to read it.

Overall,what makes me read the article is a combination of what it is about, how it is written and how I think it's supposed to be.