Rating formatting devices as a writer vs. reader
Headings
Writer: 2/10. Titles aren't real to me. I approach them the way some people may approach captioning photos or link shares. I like doing it as least as possible, that is once a post. Getting involved with headings seems like a way to increase the frequency, which I cannot abide by.
Reader: 6/10. I appreciate headings in long-form writing because it helps me sequence a story but seeing it in shorter pieces is like seeing footnotes in fiction: surprising but harmless.
Hyperlinks
Writer: 8/10. Hyperlinks are a great device for making any number of references your heart desires while keeping everybody in the loop. I'm conservative with them, though, because I want you to finish reading what I wrote and I know what it's like to keep being sent elsewhere to the point of losing interest.
Reader: 9/10. I love when hyperlinks are well-utilized. I find it very funny when somebody is talking about how a topic has been extensively covered and they use each word in that sentence to link to a different source. That said, there is such a thing as over-hyperlinking. Stop sending me to a million other places, I want to finish what you wrote!
Bullet points
Writer: 10/10. Lists are brain candy.
Reader: 10/10. Lists are also eye candy.
Tables
Writer: 1/10. Nothing personal against tables. I'm just more of a lists girl than a tables girl.
Reader: 7/10. A table is just a list's nerdy cousin. Keep them coming, Table Community. Don't you abandon lists, though.
Pull quotes
Writer: 0/10. I once wrote that I wouldn't miss block quotes if I got hit by a missile but I actually meant pull quotes. Oops. Those are the ones that are from the text itself. They seem masturbatory. Or worse, a way to fill space. I don't like them, I don't understand them, I wouldn't like to understand them.
Reader: 0/10. I'm so sorry if I like you and you like pull quotes. I promise I'll avert my eyes if you use them and try my best not to bring it up.
Block quotes
Writer: 9/10. I actually don't have any beef with block quotes. I like them. Those are the ones that come from other pieces. I much prefer them to paraphrasing, as the latter asks of me what titles do, to distill a number of interesting ideas into something snappy. I tend to use them sparingly and in conjunction with hyperlinks (if possible).
Reader: 5/10. In a way, block quotes may be the most communal of the elements. It's a means of critiquing or engaging with the words of other people, creating a conversation or keeping one going. It can feel intimate, as a reader, to see a block of text that has affected the writer that it is now in front of my eyes. There's something really earnest about that. They can also be used for malice, highlighting people's words to intentionally misconstrue meaning. On balance, I think they should be used sparingly.
Footnotes
Writer: 3/10. I'm new to the world of non-academic footnotes. It is cold and strange and unfamiliar. I find them most useful for elaboration on particular wording or phrasing but not much else.
Reader: 4/10. The good news about footnotes is that they're the writer going: this is clearly optional. The bad news is that this doesn't deter nerds like me who enjoy doing the supplementary readings. As I said, they're useful for light elaboration but I have some gripes that turn me into a kill-joy. I don't like when a footnote is over two sentences long or when a paragraph has more than two footnotes.