Monday, March 9, 2020

Longest paragraph in print goes on display - Emphasis

Longest paragraph in print goes on display Longest paragraph in print goes on display If youre struggling to read the latest lengthy management report, it could be worse. Take a look at this. Its the original manuscript scroll for Jack Kerouacs seminal novel, On the Road, which goes on display in Europe for the first time at Birminghams Barber Institute today. Kerouac wrote the novel on sheets of tracing paper and taped them together to form a scroll 120 feet long, in what must be the longest single paragraph in print. (Even the human genome sequence report is broken up into sections on individual chromosomes, although some would argue its not such a good read.) But that didnt stop it inspiring an entire generation to drop out of society and seek an alternative to the nine to five (a burden that the author found too much to bear: he deliberately drank himself to death according to former friends). He reportedly completed it after 20 days of continuous typing, fuelled by nothing stronger than coffee. We wouldnt really recommend Kerouacs somewhat eccentric approach as an example of best practice, so dont try this at home (or the office). For advice on how to write an effective report, better to read ten tips for writing high-impact documents.