The Hindu Business Line : Good writers understand readers

The main purpose of persuasive writing is “to influence the way a reader thinks, feels or acts,” says Lindsay Camp in Can I Change Your Mind? ( www.penguin.com). He captures ‘the three Rs of good persuasive writing’ in a snappy slogan: ‘Remember the Reader and the Result’. For, the secret is simple, counsels Camp: “Be as clear as you possibly can be about two things — who your reader is, and what result you are hoping to achieve.” While bad writers worry about whether the reader will understand them, the good ones are more concerned about how well they understand the reader, the author explains. He lists four broad assumptions about the reader, to help you understand the reader.

First, the reader has better things to do. So, persuasive writing has to compete for the reader’s attention, “not just to gain it in the first place, but also to hold it”. You need to give the reader a compelling reason to read and to continue reading, urges Camp.

Second, the reader never reads from start to finish. Reading is never an uninterrupted, linear process. “When we read, our eyes constantly scan the page — flickering over pictures, headings and other highlighted text, glancing ahead, going back to check what we’ve already read, jumping to the final paragraph.”

And in the process this is what we do: Assessing whether it’s worth continuing to read. “Not just once or twice, but repeatedly, we’re asking ourselves the question, ‘How long will it take me to extract what I want from this — and will I get enough from it to justify the time it takes?’”

Third, the reader always reads between the lines. That is, he never takes the word on the page at face value. “We don’t simply absorb from them the information or ideas that the writer wanted to convey. We interpret them; we look for hidden meanings and secret agendas; we test them against our own understanding of the world.”

It’s as if there is a little voice inside our heads, commenting on what we are reading, says the author.

The voice may say, for instance, ‘Yeah, right’, ‘Hmm, wonder what he means by that?’, or ‘She’s just contradicted herself, right there.’
The fourth assumption is that the reader is not an idiot. “Good persuasive writing is not, repeat not, about trying to dupe, con or otherwise hoodwink the reader,” cautions Camp. “You may sometimes be able to get away with lies and deceit, but in my view the risk is much too great. If the reader sees through you, your chances of establishing a rapport and building a relationship of trust are less than zero.”
Compelling read.

D. MURALI
http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

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