When text works in video, you don’t read it. You hear it.
That’s the test. Play your sequence. When text appears — do you feel yourself reading? Or does it just land, like someone said it?
If you’re reading, something’s wrong. Too much. Too fast. Too formal. Words that don’t move the way spoken language moves.
Spoken language is rhythmic. It has weight and air. Short phrases. Natural stops. It doesn’t use semicolons. It doesn’t say “furthermore.” It says the next thing.
When you write text for video, write out loud. Literally say it. If it sounds weird when you say it, it’ll feel weird on screen. If it sounds like something you’d actually say to someone — fast, loose, real — it’ll land.
The other thing: match the weight of the word to the weight of the image. Big moment on screen, big word. One word. Let it hit. Small moment, small text. Or no text. The frame is doing the work.
Most people treat on-screen text like a subtitle track. Every important thing gets labeled. But subtitles are for accessibility — they’re not a creative tool. When you use text like subtitles, the viewer checks out. They know they’re watching something that doesn’t trust them to see.
Trust them to see.
Put one word up. The right word. The word that sounds like what the image feels like. Then let it go.
That’s the whole move.