One of blogging’s cardinal rules is to always to let a reader know the importance of an entry, to tie content together. For example, if I work in the dog-walking industry and I post an entry on our company’s official blog about, let’s say, NASA, then I should state up front why it’s important you read the blog entry and how it’s relevant to you in the dog-walking industry.
I’d like to respectfully disagree with that nonsense. You’re not a baby. You’re an intelligent reader who knows how to make connections between topics. There’s no need for me to hold your hand when you’re reading.
Think about it. Wait. That’s exactly what this content-tying rule is helping you not do. It takes away thought. It takes away the opportunity for readers to do some of the work themselves. Reading is a partnership between the writer and the reader. The content-tying rule negates that partnership.
“Oh, but people don’t have time to read much nowadays, so you need to tell them why what they’re reading is important,” I can hear you say. You know what? If they don’t have time to read and think, then I don’t want them reading my writing. I write for readers who are thinkers (this is not to suggest that I write esoteric things). I write for people who don’t need to be hand-held and overtly pointed out things. I write for people who take responsibility for their reading.
My stance is not a popular one in this day of quick reads and SEO needs. But I’m not in it for that. I’m in it for the long haul. I’m in it to get you to think for yourself.
What kind of reader are you?
(Photo credit: close to spectacular / creative commons)
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You raise a great question as to the role of the writer (or even a speaker) in helping the readers make connections. It would be interesting to survey some folks and get their perceptions of whtt writing styles they value most and for what reasons.
In my own experience, some people seem more hardwired to do this than others. Helping guide those who are less adept at it doesn’t have to be an insult to intelligence, but could merely be seen as providing some helpful road signs to guide their journey.
Thank you, Jeffrey, for reading the blog and your comment. It seems that most of my writer friends hate pointing out the obvious in stories; however, their bosses guide them to do that for fear of losing readers/customers. Doing a survey would definitely be interesting.
Once again, thank you for reading.
the problem is that you write for a dog walking blog, so up front we all know that nothing of value can be gained from reading what you have to say, regardless of how clever and/or poorly structured it might be.
That’s why I don’t write for a dog-walking blog, Joel. There’s only so many ways one can write about leashes and picking up after dogs.