Writing keeping the reader in mind
2 min readMar 23, 2022
Many times (maybe most times) we fail to ascertain the effect of what we write (and say.) We all have certain personality traits, like sanguine, melancholy, etc. And that comes across to others in facial expressions and other body language--and in how we write, how we construct our sentencesI remember the Al Capp character, Joe Btfsplk, with the cloud perpetually hanging over his head. Such people are totally unaware of that cloud. It is sort of like Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, enraged that the immature and obscene Mozart should have so much talent, genius and popularity, and he, regardless of how he applied himself to his craft, did not.It was how Mozart made his audiences feel, in contrast to how Salieri's music made people feel. To a lesser extent, except for true genius writers, that applies to us to a certain extent. But if we truly concentrate on how we say things and how they might affect our readers, we can improve our writing. The hard work is in editing ourselves, and doing a thorough rewrite to tone down negativity, or in the case of some, tone down exuberance.It is not only negativity that can be a turn off; a blue sky, bed of roses outlook can also a disconnect between the writer and reader. Life is neither the pits nor perpetual joy. A writer must be realistic in describing our word. Sure, bad things happen to good people, but good things do too. Rain falls on the just and the unjust, bur rain is both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on whether one is considering his flower garden or his outdoor wedding.
