Are you writing or communicating?

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2K followers

Lately I have read some posts from fellow WA members here that frankly I found difficult to fully understand. Now, I'm not the dullest light in the harbor mind you, and likely not the brightest either, so the thought occurred to me that if I find it tough to comprehend this person's writing, that at least most of the others reading it will struggle with it also.

So, what is the person's intent to share this intellectual rambling that is like deciphering complex code or ancient hieroglyphics, I asked myself? The only logical answer I could come to was that they are trying to impress me, and you, with how smart they are.

Surely he had to know that most of us wouldn't be picking up what he was laying down, if you will. What good is that? I have heard that the majority of people read, and comprehend on about a 5th or 6th grade level.

Sure, it's nice to have people think you are smart, and well educated, but I think it is far better to write in a way that at least most people can understand.

I suppose I have been guilty of this to some degree, but I do try to write in a way that is easy to comprehend. I also, thanks to Kyle, try to write like I am writing to a friend or family member.

In our space, blogging, and content marketing, it is vital to communicate well with our readers. We want to be engaging, and interesting, but not too complex, and condescending. Oops, that means talking down to someone.

So my point is, I would rather people think that I may not be very smart, yet have them fully understand my writing, than writing like from pages in a doctoral dissertation, and have impressed everyone, but communicated with very few, if any.

The acronym KISS applies here. Keep it Simple Stupid. How is your writing? Are you impressing, or communicating?



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Recent Comments

14

Perfectly said Tom! ~Mark

Tom, I agree that some of the posts here might be better edited, but I don’t hold that against people. There is a huge learning curve here at WA, and there are many people writing publicly for the first time! They will be experimenting, and trying on new voices. I expect this of every writer on a journey. I don’t judge.

We also have a lot of cultural diversity here at WA. I don’t expect our European friends to sound like our friends from Asia, or the Sub-Continent. Many Americanisms don’t make the syntax of British-Australian English.

I like these variations of English all the same, and again, I don’t like to judge. Because perhaps these things I find novel are patterns of speech that are altogether ordinary in their neck of the woods.

More broadly, I find that writing with clarity has little to do with the grade level of the writer or prospective audience.

Among bricklayers, I find people with the gift of the gab; as well as those who sound like they’re sleep-talking. Among professors, I also find those with a talent for lucid story-telling and analogy, while others ramble incoherently.

So... I’m reluctant to entertain some weird anti-intellectualism to explain it (yah! You people and yer big fancy words and yer fancy book lernin!). You know incoherence exists at every end of the Flesch-Kincaid scale. Simply writing with a fourth-grade vocab doesn’t mean you’ll make more sense. ;)

But on this topic of fourth grade - a little while back a friend sent me a scan of a WWI diary that he’d inherited. It was written by some relative serving in the trenches in France. A relative who’d only finished fourth grade and gone straight to work on a farm somewhere in regional Australia.

That diary of a simple farm boy in the trenches of a savage war was penned with more elegance, and maturity, than every post in every online forum that ever was. And his handwriting was gorgeous. I wish there were more like him, now. :/

Well some are from another PLANET...
Or they are so happy to be here that...
Or they are just being them...

Since we never actually MEET anybody in person here...its hard to tell WHO is who and WHY they do/write the things they do!

Happy week Tom!

Tom

Thanks for sharing, Tom.

You've put it right.

So true, I couldn't write any other way, some will like my style of writing and some won't. Will that dismay me? No
Thanks for bringing up this subject, needed to be said.
Cheers Jae ☼

Tom

I appreciate what you say, good advice, clear and concise as well! Lol

I think some test the waters on WA to see how people respond to their posts in order to increase their confidence levels?

Thanks again.

Wayne

Hi Tom, that is a great point you raise. I know I'm not a great communicator; never have been. But, striving to be a successful affiliate marketer has taught me to write content that can be easily read and understood. There is one thing I (hopefully) exclude and that it 'talking down to others'. Doing that can come from writing for people with English as a second or third language.

Anyone who uses Yoast SEO will be aware of a level to write by. There is a word for it. Maybe it is 'Flesch'! I'm not sure, but it relates to what you mention in your post about the level that applies to most people on line.

Well said, and I agree with you about the KISS acronym.

That is an excellent point Valerie. We are writing for and to many people that have English as a second language. All the more reason to keep it simple. Tom

Thanks Tom.

Agreed! A dissertation is not the way I'd talk to a friend. There are places where you can check the grade level of your writing - sadly, don't make it too advanced or you'll lose your audience.

That is certainly a writing style to be admired, not one that is so easy to get right but we can only try.

All we need to do is practice, practice and practice some more and eventually we may get it right

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