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One of the easiest things to do is react before thinking. This goes for conversation, and even more so for writing.
The words you say to someone or write in a communication must be chosen carefully. But there’s something equally important when it comes to writing.
Understanding that if you write for yourself, there’s an inherent tradeoff.
William Zinnser, author of On Writing Well, explores this and makes you ponder a complex contradiction. Zinnser argues that you need to simplify and shorten to remove clutter, but you also need to write in your own style that’s for yourself.
Let us examine two issues he dives into that led me to my conclusion above.
Zinnser says writers need to consider craft and attitude.
Practice Makes Perfect
Becoming a subject matter expert is important to build a foundation that turns into a reputation, but you need to have a realization first.
Another article that explains this piece of this puzzle perfectly is The Source of Bad Writing by Steven Pinker.
Pinker explains a concept called “The Curse of Knowledge.” This is the belief that leads writers to assume readers know everything they know. He gives a great example of a speaker at a biology conference falling into this trap by giving a presentation packed with technical jargon geared to fellow scientists only.
The speaker knew this presentation was being filmed and distributed to millions of people who aren’t scientists.
Initial Impressions
How you use a skill to express your personality defines how someone perceives you. In this case, it’s how your reader sees you as a writer.
As a writer, an interesting and important consideration is giving the reader enough valuable information right away. Amy Schade, author of an article named, The Fold Manifesto: Why the Page Fold Still Matters, discusses the importance of this initial impression.
“When users fail to see information of value, they stop scrolling. In usability testing, the occasional user does a “lay of the land” scroll to get a sense of what’s on a page before engaging, but this behavior is far from standard. Users scroll when there is reason to.”
Writing for yourself has an inherent tradeoff if you don’t consider your craft and attitude as separate issues. Once you do and focus on reducing clutter, letting your style lead your writing, and following key principles, your writing will improve drastically.
Kyle Adams POV 