How I Teach Writing for Digital Platforms

Good digital writing is built on judgment, not formulas.

When I teach writing for digital platforms, I focus less on rules and more on judgment.

Platforms change. Tools evolve. Formats come and go. What lasts is a writer’s ability to make good decisions, often under deadline, with incomplete information, and for audiences who don’t all arrive the same way.

My approach to teaching digital writing is built around helping writers understand why choices matter, not just what to do.

Writing as a Series of Decisions

Every piece of digital writing is shaped by decisions:

Where to begin
What to explain
What to emphasize
What to leave out
When the story is done

Rather than prescribing formulas, I teach writers how to evaluate those decisions based on purpose, audience and context. The goal isn’t uniform writing, it’s confident thinking.

Starting With Purpose, Not Format

One of the first questions I ask writers is not “What are you writing?” but “What is this meant to do?”

Is the goal to:

Inform quickly?
Explain complexity?
Capture a moment?
Guide someone through an experience or decision?

Once purpose is clear, decisions about length, tone and structure become far more intentional. Format should serve the story, not dictate it.

Finding the Nutgraph: Identifying the Heart of the Story

Underneath every strong piece of writing is a clear understanding of what the story is really about.

I teach writers to identify this early and revisit it often. Whether you call it a nutgraph or simply the heart of the story, it’s the point where purpose becomes clear.

I encourage writers to articulate it in a single sentence:

What should the reader understand by the end?
Why does this matter now?
Why is this worth their time?

If those questions can’t be answered plainly, the story usually needs more reporting, or rethinking.

An Anchor, Not a Formula

I’m careful to emphasize that the nutgraph isn’t a rigid paragraph that must appear in a specific place.

In digital writing, it might:

Appear early to orient readers quickly
Be delayed to allow a scene to do the work
Be distributed across several lines rather than stated outright

What matters isn’t placement, it’s clarity of intent. Once the heart of the story is clear, it becomes an anchor for every other decision.

Teaching Structure as Strategy

Structure is often misunderstood as a mechanical exercise. I teach it as a strategic tool.

Writers learn to:

Choose openings that match the story’s purpose
Use subheads to signal shifts in focus
Build momentum without rushing
Create natural stopping points without losing coherence

This approach works across breaking news, longform profiles and institutional storytelling because it’s rooted in clarity, not convention.

Editing as a Core Writing Skill

Editing isn’t a separate phase, it’s part of writing itself. I coach writers to:

Re-read their work with distance
Question their own assumptions
Look for repetition and drift
Strengthen clarity without flattening voice

Learning to edit decisively is often the moment writers begin to level up.

Teaching Writers What to Cut

One of the most difficult — and valuable — skills I teach is knowing what to remove.

Writers often equate cutting with loss. In practice, cutting is how stories gain focus and confidence.

I ask writers to look at each paragraph and consider:

Does this move the story forward?
Does this add new insight?
Is this written for the reader or for the writer?

If the answer isn’t clear, it’s a candidate for revision or removal.

Common Things Writers Learn to Cut

Throat-clearing introductions
Redundant background
Interesting but irrelevant detail
Quotes that repeat what’s already been said

Cutting isn’t about saying less. It’s about saying the right things.

Teaching What to Keep When a Subject Overshares

Another challenge writers frequently face is deciding what belongs in the story when a subject shares more than the story requires.

Oversharing is often a sign of trust, but trust doesn’t obligate publication.

I teach writers to pause and ask:

Does this detail serve the story’s purpose?
Does it deepen understanding or simply heighten emotion?
Would this feel fair if the subject read it later?
Am I including this because it’s meaningful or because it’s dramatic?

Some details strengthen the writer’s understanding without needing to appear on the page. Good judgment means knowing the difference.

Boundaries as a Writing Skill

Handling oversharing requires empathy, editorial discipline and an awareness of power dynamics — especially in stories involving students, families, grief, or personal struggle.

Strong writing doesn’t extract everything it can. It protects what doesn’t need to be exposed.

Teaching Writing in Real Conditions

Digital writing rarely happens in ideal circumstances. I teach with real environments in mind:

Tight deadlines
Competing priorities
Multiple stakeholders
Distribution and platform considerations

Writers practice adapting their work for different contexts without losing clarity or intent. That adaptability is more valuable than mastering any single format.

Coaching Tone and Authority

Tone is one of the hardest elements to teach, and one of the most important. Writers are coached to:

Write with authority without sounding rigid
Explain without oversimplifying
Acknowledge uncertainty when it exists

In public-facing and institutional writing, tone is often where credibility is earned, or lost.

The Outcome I Aim For

The goal of my teaching isn’t to produce identical writing. It’s to develop stronger judgment.

Writers who leave these sessions should be able to:

Identify the heart of a story
Defend their editorial choices
Cut with confidence
Navigate sensitive material responsibly
Adapt to new platforms without losing clarity

When writers understand the reasoning behind their decisions, quality follows naturally.

Final Thought

Digital writing isn’t mastered by memorizing best practices. It’s learned through practice, reflection and guidance.

My role as a teacher is to help writers develop the judgment they’ll need long after today’s platforms, formats and trends have changed.

Mario Sevilla