Writing for Understanding by Marilyn Henrie June 6, 2014

Everyone wants to be understood “Communication is the most important skill in life.” --Stephen R. Covey Everyone wants to be understood. Even children, before they can speak, make their needs known by crying, pointing, or trying in some other way to communicate what they want. Stephen R. Covey said, “Communication is the most important skill in life.” If that’s the case, then we need to communicate in a way that others can understand us. Nothing can be more frustrating than having someone misconstrue a comment that was meant to be helpful into some sort of criticism. This is especially important to the writer, who has a one-way communication with his or her audience. This presentation will help to clarify some things writers can do to help communicate clearly with their audience. Baunach, Brandon. “Crying-Baby.” Photograph. 2007. Flickr. Web. 5 June 2014.

Know Your Audience Shared experiences lead to understanding x x x x x You have to first have a pretty good idea of who is going to be reading your material. It is helpful if you share a common background or similar experiences. This is usually easier if you have a small audience, or if your readers all come from a common background. If, however, you are writing in a magazine or newspaper that has a huge audience, there is a much greater chance that similar experiences will not be shared by all, as shown in the Venn diagrams. The shared experiences are represented by the areas of overlap in the circles. x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Know your subject What do you know from experience? You can only write what you know. The more you know about a subject, the more you can help others understand about it as well. For instance, I know what it feels like to ride a camel. I know what the pyramids of Egypt look like; I’ve experienced that. My grandson knows how fascinating bubbles are. He could probably tell you about the colors in a bubble, and maybe about how fragile they are. It wouldn’t be good for me to write a “how to” book on fixing a car, but my husband could. If you want to be understood, write about what you know.

Express ideas clearly and simply Get rid of clutter Break down complex ideas Acquaint audience with terms Don’t you just feel overwhelmed sometimes with clutter? Get organized with your writing. Usually it just starts with sitting down and starting—just like organizing the clutter in your office. You can then go back and throw things out that aren’t necessary, or that are confusing. Write, then edit. William Zinsser said, “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words . . . and meaningless jargon.” State your ideas clearly and simply by breaking down complex ideas into simple steps. Nicholas Petterssen, the writer of an instruction manual for 3D software, started his instructions by explaining what it means to “click” a button on a computer mouse. He continued explaining elementary steps which eventually led the reader to understand how to use 3D software. It also might be important to explain terms to your reader. For instance, many acronyms are used today that are confusing to those not familiar with their meanings. Margo. “Clutter.” Photograph. 2009. Flickr. Web. 5 June 2014.

Mechanics Use active not passive voice Be positive Avoid the double negative Use common words Be careful with commas Pronoun/antecedent agreement Always use appropriate grammar and usage. Active voice speaks more directly to the reader than does passive. Be positive; negativity is depressing. Avoid the double negative, even though sometimes I think it is useful. For example, I want to write not only to be understood, but not to be misunderstood. Use common words instead of flowery words or words that seem to official sounding. Again, it’s important to know your audience so that you know what is appropriate. Be careful to place commas so that your meaning is clear and not ambiguous to the reader. And make sure that all pronouns agree with their antecedents—for instance, when writing about a singular person, use “his” or “her” instead of “their.”

Stories and Analogies Stories and analogies can be a great way to help readers understand. Take, for example, the story of “The Little Red Hen.” It’s a great analogy of receiving the benefits of hard work. The pig, goose, cat, and dog all refused to help the little red hen make her bread, yet they were the first to come and want to get a slice when it came out of the oven. She refused to let them have any because they were too lazy to give her help when she needed it. Such analogies help writers to communicate well with readers. Fisher, Blanche. “Who Will Help Me Plant this Corn?” Illustration. 1921. Kathie McMillan. Flickr. Web. 5 June 2014. Fisher, Blanche. “Who Will Help Me Eat this Cake?” Illustration. 1921. Kathie McMillan. Flickr. Web. 5 June 2014.

Humor Don’t underestimate the power of humor. Like most writing, humor will work best if you know your audience well. Erma Bombeck related well to women who shared many of her experiences with family life and raising children. She once wrote, “Somewhere it is written that parents who are critical of other people’s children and publicly admit they can do better are asking for it.” Which one of us who has children has never had someone criticize our children in public? We enjoy the story because we can relate, and it’s nice to see that others share some of the same frustrations as we do.

Write To Be Understood Know your audience & speak to them Know your stuff Watch grammar & usage Keep it simple Use appropriate stories & analogies Humor helps To review, know your audience and speak to them. Write about what you know. If you don’t know about something that you want to write about, do some research—learn about it. Watch your grammar and usage. Keep things simple so that no one can misunderstand what you’re saying. Use appropriate stories and analogies, and don’t forget humor—make it enjoyable! If your readers enjoy reading what you write, you’re probably getting through to them in an understandable way.

What don’t you understand? Was I perfectly clear? I hope I’ve been clear in explaining how writers can write in a way that creates understanding and good communication. Now, what don’t you understand? Cgshell. “Through the Looking Glass.” Photograph. 2011. Flickr. Web. 5 June 2014. What don’t you understand?

Bibliography Flickr images www.flickr.com/creativecommons Created by Marilyn Henrie