Style over Substance?

[theo]

I'm a total information junkie so I'm probably your target audience. For what it's worth, I think it's important for articles to do a couple important things: 1) Entertain. 2) Educate. 3) Give me an option for more.

1) Entertain: If the article completely dry and lifeless, I lose interest pretty fast. EXCEPT if I'm literally reading the article because it is a tutorial. In that case, I want something that is completely straightforward, to-the-point and absent of any fluff.
2) Educate: In most cases I"m reading because I want to get something out of it. If an article tells me something I don't know, or gives thoughtful insight into something I'ms already familiar with, I'm totally down with it.
3) Give me an option for more: If I'm already reading your article, I'm obviously interested in the subject matter. I love it when articles send me to other useful articles, websites, tutorials or resources. That definitely grows my trust in the author.

[vangogh]

I think we read for the same reasons. I'd add a strong opinion as another reason I might read. I'll also read something just for the writing itself, but it's because I'm interested in writing and in a way I'm learning by reading great writing.

The option for more is interesting. I always try to link out in my posts in a mix of other things I've written on the site and also to some of the resources I used in helping me write. Sometimes I link to more of one than the other depending on the specific article. It bugs me when people don't link out. There are times I might read a review of some software for example and the article never points me to the software. If the article does it's job then everyone reading is going to want to visit the site with the software, Why some sites refuse to do that is beyond me.