by J. Herman

Created on: January 24, 2012

Trust you readers.

How many times have writers heard this advice? You've probably heard this advice many times over your years of writing, in many different forms.

The first question is to ask why this phrase is repeated often enough to become a cliché. One answer is the message. No. Not the message of this article, although it is an example.

Writers worry about the message. The message or idea, some call this theme, behind the article, story or book is the motivating force for the writing process. And writers worry that readers won't understand, won't get the message the writer has meant to convey. It does not matter if the writer is working on a non-fiction article or a fictional story. In each case, the operation of weaving abstract ideas into a concrete form can sometimes feel like a house of cards ready to collapse at any moment.

Will the facts and figures being used to back up the ideas presented in the article build a convincing case? Will the fictional world that a writer develops hold together long enough to keep the reader engaged through to the end? And ultimately, what will the reader make of the piece of writing when they've finished reading? 

It's this worry that the reader won't get the message, won't understand what the writer is proposing that leads some people to build an article or story with a giant hammer. Think of those huge two-handed jack hammers that piston down into the ground with enough force to bust up concrete. There's no way any reader could possibly miss what the writer wanted to say with that type of force.

But using that type of force will work in exactly the opposite manner than intended. Most of the fun of reading a piece is in the figuring out, the discovery of new information and ideas. Think back on when was the last time you were forced to listen to someone who had made their point. And then five minutes later, made the point again in order to make sure you knew what they were saying. 

And then once they were convinced you had heard the message, repeated it a third time for good measure. At what point, did you tune out that person if you couldn't leave their presence?

Trust in yourself to know you can present your facts and figures or your fictional world in an engaging and interesting manner. You know, in the way you'd like to have the information presented to you. Trust that making the words fun and exciting so that the words flow so easily that the reader won't want to put down your piece until they finish it. It is with this deep knowing; this intuitive sense that you can build out a piece of writing that communicates the message underneath the sense of the words without having to hammer home the point that will keep your reader going to the very end.

Trust that as you practice writing, you will gain more ability to write words that intuitively convey your message. Once your words have been written then trust your readers to discover your message.

Seems so simple to say, and yet, so hard to put into practice. And this is why so many books and classes will tell you this message many times.

Trust your readers.

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