Writing and Editing | Words For Hire

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In online publishing there is an oft repeated mantra about writing for your readers. While it is true that you should write for your readers rather than search engines, there is a gaping hole in the advice. When you face the blank page to tell your story, the last thing you need is an audience, even when the audience is only in your head.

Even the most experienced writer often faces the nasty inner critic, who shows up to heckle and deter you from your writing process. If you allow readers into the room you can guarantee that at least one of them will be a critic. In his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft , author Stephen King advises that you tell the story to yourself first. It is advice that helped me get my first novel onto paper. I had to shut the door and lock out the readers, and the critics in order to first tell the story.

Writing is one of the few tasks in which focusing on the end result can hinder rather than help. You cannot sit down to write a New York Times bestseller or a viral blog post. Initially it is you and the story, whatever that story may be. When you have told the story then you allow the readers to help you refine and polish it.

Writing without an audience can yield surprising results. You may discover stories or storytelling elements that never would have blossomed without creative freedom.

Whether or not you are a writer, we all have to write – reports, presentations, correspondence – and we have all faced the critic that makes us anxious about the end result. How would you apply King’s advice in your writing? Would it ease the task of writing if you did it without thought about the end result?

Written by Karen D. Swim

Jane was giddy with excitement. She had just won her first freelance writing assignment. Technically, she would not be writing but proofreading. Her client had written an e-book and needed another set of eyes to proofread. Jane meticulously went through the copy, reading every word and marking up corrections. When it was time to deliver to the client, she did her fourth and final check just to be sure. She emailed the client a marked up version and a “clean” version. The client had not asked but Jane was eager to deliver.

An hour after she had emailed the manuscript to her client, her phone rang.

Hello Jane, this is Miranda. I received the copy and this is not at all what I wanted.

Beads of sweat formed on Jane’s lip as she tried to keep her voice from trembling, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I proofread the copy and sent you two versions, did you receive them both?”

“I wanted you to get this ready for publication. You made no enhancements.”

“I thought you wanted me to proofread not edit.”

Now it was Miranda’s turn to be stumped. “Aren’t they the same thing?”

When I was in high school , I had an English assignment that taught me the value of providing clear directions. Our class was instructed to write the instructions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for an alien visiting our home. Most of the class thought the assignment was silly until they attempted to comply.

The instructions were for an alien who spoke the language but was not operating from the same context of experiences. You could not take shortcuts or make assumptions but had to be clear and direct.

Jane and Miranda not only spoke the same English but lived in the same country, in the same state, less than 5 miles apart. Yet, there had been a complete breakdown in communications. Miranda thought she understood proofreading and editing, but to a writer they are vastly different.

In our effort to be understood, we may try to speak the language but if we incorrectly apply a term we may not get our hoped for results. When providing someone with instructions, it is important to be clear and give detail. When receiving instructions, it is equally important to ask questions, and confirm mutual understanding.

Being misunderstood is easy but clear communication requires patience.

Have you ever had a situation where you thought you were clear and the results indicated your error? What did you learn from the experience?

Why Writing for Your Readers is a Bad Idea

Clear as Mud