Writing Only Makes Sense to the Author

The rest of us are left guessing. But the more the author puts themself in the shoes of the audience, the less guesswork needs to happen.
posts
communication
writing
art
Date

Tuesday January 23, 2024

Topics
posts
communication
writing
art

If you’re a bad author, your writing will only make sense to you.

Problem is, we’re all bad authors.

  1. My writing makes sense as I put it fown
  2. It doesn’t always make sense to me 5 minutes later (my future self is practically another person)
  3. The probability of it being perfectly interpreted by someone who isn’t even me, is likely near zero.

So when we write, we send out an idea. It then becomes a painting on the wall, up for anyone to interpret how they may.1 therefore, it’s best to put yourself as much in your audience’s shoes as possible (something discussed often in How to Win Friends and Influence People).

“Now what on earth was Bryan trying to say?!?” “I think he was inspired” “nah man, he just wrote scribbles on the wall. That’s not writing!” “Yea, maybe he should slap a banana with duct tape on there. Would have gotten the point across better”

  1. Going to an extreme - ever write a kind word that was taken as an insult, or sent something sarcastic and it was interpreted as literal?↩︎

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Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: