As a writer, be it an author, a blogger, or a journalist you want to attract people to your texts, you want them to read what you are writing. That is pretty simple logic. What is not necessarily as easy is to get them to actually do the reading. Keeping your writing simple is how you can get readers attracted to your texts. That is if you want to reach many readers. If you want to reach a certain, smaller, group you might need to use other tactics.
There are some writers who are masters at catching their readers attention, but there are also many writers who tend to make things unnecessarily complex. How then can you keep your writing simple?
1. Focus on the core point in your text. If you write about a topic you know really well you might have a lot to say about it, but your reader might not have as much knowledge as you and if you give him or her too much stuff he or she might get lost.
2. Keep it short and well structured. There is so much to read out there today so if your text is very long people might skip it for some shorter text. Also if it is very tight and with small letters it will make people turn away from it. There are for example some pocket books on the market with very small text, and although the subject might interest me the layout makes me choose another book instead. On the internet a text should be easily skimmed through and preferably with a lot of spacing throughout.
3. Make it a list. I have been sceptical about lists myself, but I have had to change my mind. Especially on the internet this is an effective way to get your message through. It means you can divide your text into well structured parts.
4. Know what you write about. You might lose people if you have much more knowledge than them about the topic, but you might also lose them if you know too little about it. If you don´t have a clear picture of what you want to say your text might become very confusing. Usually the more clear your picture is of what you want to say the easier it is to write a simple, understandable text.
5. Know your point. Everything has many angles and can be seen from many perspectives, and you should know what your point is with the text. If you try to cover all angles you will most likely end up losing not only your readers, but also yourself. If you cover one angle this time you can cover another angle next time.
6. Put yourself into the text. Using only facts and figures is an effective way of boring your reader. Well, there are some people who get turned on by these, but most people like a good story and like to get a humane view of the subject.
7. Talk to your reader. Don´t talk above your reader, talk to him or her. Think of your writing as if you were having a dialogue with the other person. In a dialogue your partner learn something, but you learn something too. Try to picture your reader and his or her questions to your writing. If you show an interest in your reader you will catch his or her attention.
How do you keep your writing simple?
There are some writers who are masters at catching their readers attention, but there are also many writers who tend to make things unnecessarily complex. How then can you keep your writing simple?
1. Focus on the core point in your text. If you write about a topic you know really well you might have a lot to say about it, but your reader might not have as much knowledge as you and if you give him or her too much stuff he or she might get lost.
2. Keep it short and well structured. There is so much to read out there today so if your text is very long people might skip it for some shorter text. Also if it is very tight and with small letters it will make people turn away from it. There are for example some pocket books on the market with very small text, and although the subject might interest me the layout makes me choose another book instead. On the internet a text should be easily skimmed through and preferably with a lot of spacing throughout.
3. Make it a list. I have been sceptical about lists myself, but I have had to change my mind. Especially on the internet this is an effective way to get your message through. It means you can divide your text into well structured parts.
4. Know what you write about. You might lose people if you have much more knowledge than them about the topic, but you might also lose them if you know too little about it. If you don´t have a clear picture of what you want to say your text might become very confusing. Usually the more clear your picture is of what you want to say the easier it is to write a simple, understandable text.
5. Know your point. Everything has many angles and can be seen from many perspectives, and you should know what your point is with the text. If you try to cover all angles you will most likely end up losing not only your readers, but also yourself. If you cover one angle this time you can cover another angle next time.
6. Put yourself into the text. Using only facts and figures is an effective way of boring your reader. Well, there are some people who get turned on by these, but most people like a good story and like to get a humane view of the subject.
7. Talk to your reader. Don´t talk above your reader, talk to him or her. Think of your writing as if you were having a dialogue with the other person. In a dialogue your partner learn something, but you learn something too. Try to picture your reader and his or her questions to your writing. If you show an interest in your reader you will catch his or her attention.
How do you keep your writing simple?
Tom Sorhannus is writing and blogging about personal development and life at Experience And Grow ----> go there experienceandgrow.com
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