Journal logo

How to Write for Readers

Hints and Tips for Aspiring Writers

By Aaron DennisPublished 7 years ago 7 min read
Like
Coming Soon

First, I want to draw your attention to my upcoming release, How to Become a Successful Writer. I've been cataloging my experiences from the publishing world, and I've also compiled some of my interactions with other writers, editors, marketers, publishers, and readers, and thusly I have acquired more than enough material to create a comprehensive, easy to understand, and somewhat entertaining manual for writers of virtually any skill level.

This book will be released some time in November—probably the last week—so keep your eyes open for How to Become a Successful Writer. In the meantime, you can all continue to read my articles, or visit my website for all kinds of free information and free resources. www.storiesbydennis.com

Now, for the pièce de résistance....

I was rooting around Quora, which can be a great place for aspiring writers to ask questions; it’s also a great place for editors to give answers, or find intriguing questions through which they can practice their editing skills. On Quora, I came across the following question:

Do you like the following linked paragraph?

Then, the linked paragraph was something like the following:

Nellie had never felt any maternal instinct, but had never thought of hurting a child. She still wouldn’t do it directly, but felt less inhibited to harm Molly’s mother than ever before. Compared to some men in the world, Lisa wasn’t so evil, but that, somehow made Nellie want to harm her even more. Then she would be out of the way.

Naturally, it can be quite difficult to properly answer such a question; it only asks if the reader likes the paragraph, but as a writer and editor, such a thing allows me to engage my skills. Now, my initial response is no, I do not like the above paragraph; I abhor the words would and could in prose—you can read more about that here. That’s just my personal pet peeve. I feel like every time I read an independent title, every other word in every other sentence is would or could, and it just breaks the flow of the story.

Secondly, it’s very difficult to infer the idea within the text. A paragraph should express only a single idea. If that idea is complex then more sentences are required, or sentences of greater complexity are required in order to express the idea to the readers. You see, it’s imperative that a writer expresses in words what they are thinking, but it’s equally important that an editor edits the idea in order to make sure that readers don’t make their own individual interpretations.

What is the idea?

Nellie isn’t mother material, yet she doesn’t wish any harm on children, but then, contrary to the initial expression, it appears as though she might be willing to indirectly harm a child, Molly, by harming Molly’s mother.

Not overly complicated, however, that same paragraph goes on to add that some men in the world are evil, but Lisa, presumably Molly’s mother, and not a man, is less evil than most men. Regardless of that fact, or perhaps in spite of that fact, Nellie wants to harm Lisa even more.

Finally, the writer has added that then Lisa would be out of the way, whatever that means. The final sentence forces the reader to infer something, to make an individual interpretation. Now, there’s presumably more text both before and after the paragraph, so everything might make sense; there’s just no way to know, but it isn’t really important in this case.

What I want to do is clarify a few issues. For one, when writing or editing a paragraph, be sure that only a single idea is expressed. Two, be sure to express that single idea while making sure that the audience can’t make an individual interpretation. Three, make certain that everything provided in prose is chronological and amalgamated.

Let’s look at the original paragraph again.

Nellie had never felt any maternal instinct, but had never thought of hurting a child. She still wouldn’t do it directly, but felt less inhibited to harm Molly’s mother than ever before. Compared to some men in the world, Lisa wasn’t so evil, but that, somehow made Nellie want to harm her even more. Then she would be out of the way.

Let’s take the first sentence. We’re learning that while Nellie has never hurt a child, she usually has no real interest in them. Cool. That gives us a great look into her personality, however, it feels a little stiff. The words hadnever appear twice, and I think that’s what makes it stiff.

Nellie was lacking maternal instincts, yet she never hurt a child.

It says it all, I believe.

Let’s look at the second sentence.

I’m not sure what she wouldn’t do directly. She wouldn’t hurt a child directly? We know; it’s already been stated. That means we, as readers, have to make an individual interpretation—Nellie wouldn’t hurt a child directly, but she would hurt a child vicariously by hurting Holly’s mother, so it’s really two different ideas presented within the single sentence, and since the first portion of the sentence is a repeat of the first sentence, and the second idea of the second sentence seems to deal with something else entirely, I suggest cutting the whole thing.

Now, we get to the third sentence, which is related to the second half of the second sentence.

Lisa, Molly’s mother, it appears, is not an evil person, but somehow, that makes Nellie want to hurt her even more. Cool. Another look into Nellie’s crazed personality, but if the second sentence was cut, this third sentence no longer makes sense. That said, what I want to show readers is what precisely is going through Nellie’s head; she doesn’t care for kids, but has no ill will towards them either. Nellie is considering hurting Lisa, perhaps because she happens to like Molly.

Finally, we have the last sentence, which tells us that Nellie wants Lisa out of the way for whatever reason, a reason we probably learn later in the story, but it has that pesky would again.

Here’s what I see as a reader, which is what I use to edit my writing for my audience.

There needs to be a preceding paragraph describing how Nellie feels about kids and why. Then, another paragraph is required to describe Nellie’s feelings towards Lisa and why.

Something like the following might work:

Nellie was lacking maternal instincts, yet she never hurt a child. They were innocent creatures, if misguided. Mothers, on the other hand, they were the real problem.
Compared to some men in the world, mothers weren’t evil, even Lisa wasn’t all bad, but somehow that made Nellie want to harm her even more. Lisa, the overbearing, gin-soaked, hag of a woman stood between Nellie and Molly. Getting her out of the way was the only solution.

Now, as expressed earlier, I don’t know anything about the characters except that Nellie sounds like she’s a bit touched in the head — she may also hate men — so I made up what I thought worked.

The points to consider are those three issues I brought to light previously; be sure that each paragraph expresses only a single idea, be sure to express that single idea while making sure that the audience can’t make an individual interpretation, and make certain that everything provided in prose is chronological and amalgamated.

Right off the bat, I broke the single paragraph into two because there were multiple ideas, which required clarification. I also provided more story in roughly the same amount of words, and the story was provided directly; no woulds and coulds, so there are no if sentiments. In other words, everything is straight to the point, and no one reading my edited version can make their own individual interpretation; what I provided is all there is.

Real quick, so everyone knows, the example I provided is only loosely based on the actual paragraph from Quora; it has been tailored for this article and to protect the owner's rights.

My reason for writing this article is twofold. One, Quora can be a great resource for aspiring writers to learn and practice editing by reading what other aspiring writers are writing. Two, aspiring editors can read the advice given by others, and often, they can learn something new; a new perspective, or even just a reason, which can better explain why some words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs work better than others.

It’s imperative that writers and editors work outside their comfort zones, and by visiting Quora, and spending a little time scrutinizing how different minds function, everyone can learn from everyone else. By now, I’m sure you all understand that I want you aspiring writers to provide great content. I also want you to know a little more about editing, not so much so you can self-edit, but rather to give you an inkling of what to look for in the editor you hire.

In the end, what all writers and editors need to consider is what the audience gleans from the writing, and if there seems to be any room for interpretation, the piece has not been completely edited. Editing is a very complicated and demanding art; it entails transforming a sequential account of events into a story worth reading; it entails reading a writer’s work as a reader, and then clarifying that content for other readers, all of whom are not directly in the writer’s head.

If you’d like to learn more about editing, I have numerous articles right here on Journal, or you can visit my website www.storiesbydennis.com which also contains links to articles I’ve written for Journal.

Keep reading, keep writing, share this with your compatriots, and if you’re feeling generous, dole out a little donation. Thanks for your continued support.

how to
Like

About the Creator

Aaron Dennis

Creator of the Lokians SciFi series, The Adventures of Larson and Garrett, The Dragon of Time series, and more.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.