Writing is Difficult.

But learning it is worthy of your time.

Photo by Michael Fousert on Unsplash

I had the opportunity to glimpse into the mind of a teenage writer as she navigated through the writing process.

My daughter had an essay due for AP English. She went through what all of us writers experience. Writer’s block. Overthinking. Killing ideas as they surface because we assume that it isn’t any good.

Writing is one of the hardest tasks one can do.

You have to take the untidy collection of knowledge that’s in your brain, assemble words in a written medium, and hope to god that the reader can understand it.

Unfortunately in some cases, the author and the reader never “come to terms”. This phrase, coined by Mortimer Adler (How to Read a Book), essentially means that the reader did not pick up the message the author intended to deliver.

Here are a few insights I picked up from observing my daughter as she braved the writing journey.

1. Simple sentences are ideal. The simpler the better. Writers have a biased towards their work. Many writers assume that since they understand the message they’re conveying, the reader will. This is not true. Simple sentences are clearer than long ones. The further the period is from the beginning of the sentence, the harder it is to read.
2. Simple words are better. Shorter words are better. Similar with sentences, length influences understanding. I understand shorter words much more easily than longer ones. If writers think longer words make them sound smarter, this too is flawed thinking. I can’t remember ever saying “wow this author sure is smart” after reading long words and sentences an author has written. It just doesn’t happen with me. But as a writer, I have to admit this is a struggle for me. I too want to wow the reader with my grasp of big and smart-sounding words.
3. Nothing matters more than the reader and author coming to terms. Writers have a message. Readers want that message. Jumbled writing with big unnecessary words just get in the way of that transmission. Our goal as writers is to be as clear as possible. Long sentences and big words just get in the way.

Simplicity is powerful. In life and certainly in writing. Keep it simple.