What’s wrong?
If you are college-educated, you have almost 12 + 4 years of writing under your belt. This writing experience only means something if you spend even more years undergoing post-graduation or something else.
But even after having a minimum of more than 16 years of writing experience, you fail to write for an audience outside the academia. That is a real problem. Being smart doesn’t automatically make you a better writer.
Why do I say that writing instruction and assignments you receive at school don’t matter?
The short answer is that it has left you with years of bad writing habits.
You are not taught to see writing as something that generates value for other You are taught to write in a manner that is supposed to reveal what is in your head - Egocentric writing.
Your teachers are actively making you write to test your ability to think and formulate answers or apply techniques. To do that they need you to write in a such way that you are explaining your mind, your thoughts. You are essentially graded for your thoughts.
In the real world, no one trusts you, you have to earn your reader’s trust. You are taught to focus too much on the rules of the language that the purpose of writing
Rules are agreed-upon conventions to make the application of language more easier. Teachers tend to teach you rules as something absolute. You are graded for following the rules well. You automatically are nurtured to care more about the rules of writing than the function it serves in the real world - Communication.
Content, delivery and how you engage your reader take precedence over rules. The basic rules of grammar and spelling cannot be ignored. But your job as a writer is to communicate well, not to flatter your reader with your ability to follow rules.
You never had to engage your reader All the work you do for college or uni is primarily meant for your teachers to read. And they are paid to read it. So you never had to account for how the reader engages with what you write. This is the biggest drawback of writing assignments in school. You never once think about engagement or how to present your writing.
Things to look out for when you are writing for an audience.
Know who your (potential readers) are
Although writing is a common term, not all writing is the same. How you write is governed by who you are writing to and what you are writing. So it is very important to know who your readers are and the context in which they might be reading what you are writing. Knowing what they like or what they expect of you will help you choose the right topic for your piece.
The same author can write for the NY Times, the Journal of Economy or a PHD paper.
Provide value to your reader
Writing is a means of communication. You are communicating an idea or a concept. It is a relationship based on a transaction between an author and a reader.
To make the transaction useful, you should provide value to the reader. Value is anything that they care about, or they can have an effect on their life. You don’t write to share what’s on your mind (there is social media) for that. You give them what they are here for and that is information that is valuable to them in most cases.
Provide value by empathising with what they need. Answer the same questions that want to be seen answered.
Message first, Rules second
You write to communicate, not to mesmerise your reader with superior knowledge of the rules of the English language.
Only your English teacher cares for your rules, as they are paid for it.
Your readers are here for the value you provide. Give them value in such way that it is extractable in the easiest of ways.
Don’t make it complicated for them.
Use rules when you need them, break them when it hampers your ability to create engagement and connection or provide better delivery.
Delivery Matters
It is just not enough to put your point across, it. should be engaging to the reader.
But this also depends on the length of the piece and who you are writing to. If you are writing a New York Times op-ed piece, your reader doesn’t have the time to read long complex sentences.
Their attention span is limited. So you must add hooks and make sentences short to not lose their attention from your piece.
Bonus Tip: All tips come with an “It depends” clause.
As mentioned earlier all writing is not the same. So take every writing advice you get with a pinch of salt or make sure you understand in which context the advice was shared.
Depending on the function of the writing priorities and “rules” of writing change.
Maybe the one golden rule to follow at all times is “Write to communicate effectively”.