How to influence the reader: 6 tips for writers

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

I know how tired you are of the same writing tips. But here the reputation of the advisor speaks for itself. Stephen Pinker is one of the most influential psychologists in the world, a scientist and linguist at Harvard University. And here are six tips he can give every writer.

I've always thought that writing is an art form, along with music, painting and architecture. Pinker has a different opinion. He believes that writing is a science, and like any other science, writing obeys the rules that we will tell you about.

How we would like to be unique, but, unfortunately, everyone's brain works in about the same way. Therefore, it is important for a writer to know the basics of psychology in order to be able to correctly influence a person. What is needed for this?

Create looks, but don't show superiority

One third of the human brain is responsible for vision. Therefore, you must give the reader the opportunity to "see" your story. In order for the reader to move from the “I think I understand” phase to the “I understand” phase, he needs to see in his head the images of what you want to convey.

Many writers also try to impress with deep thoughts and clever words. And you can read about research that has shown that the easier it is for the brain to process information, the more emotions it evokes in it. Think the same way about writing. By trying to show your superiority over the reader, you make them feel stupid.

Nobody likes to feel stupid.

Avoid being know-it-all

Even when we write for others, we still think about ourselves first. What does this lead to? No good. Remember, the reader doesn't know what's in your head. Therefore, many of your thoughts may be completely incomprehensible.

Have you heard the phrase "Explain as if I am a five-year-old child"? It is not devoid of truth. The best way to know if the reader understands everything is to let someone else read your creation. Preferably someone from your target audience. This way you will get yourself an editor, even if the editor is your friend Kostya.

Remember the main idea

Let the reader understand your idea as early as possible and build the story around it. People need to build on the main point to follow the flow of your story. And this rule is also backed up.

So, you should not seem too smart, you should be able to create images and remind the reader of the main idea. What's next?

Break the rules

If all books were written by rules, imagine how boring life would be. What would we do without A Song of Ice and Fire, in which one of the main characters dies every 50 pages?

Or without the James Brown song I feel good. Yes, Brown also broke the rules, because before this song the phrase “I feel good” was not in English at all.

But, in order to break the rules, you first need to learn them. And this is much more difficult.

Read

No article for writers is complete without this advice. If you want to make music, you have to listen to a lot of music. If you want to learn how to paint, you have to spend more than one day studying the work of other artists.

It's the same with writing. Not only educational materials, but also books of famous, good and interesting writers to you. You can't become a good writer without reading.

Don't Think You Can Do It Perfect the First Time

It seems to you that the thoughts in your head are as clear and understandable as possible. However, it is not. You will have to spend a lot of time editing and rewriting the resulting work in order to get a sense out of it. All writers revise what they have written many times. You can read about this in the book Bird by Bird.

Of course, there are brilliant writers in the world whose thoughts seem to float onto paper from their heads. Do you think that you are one of them? Perhaps it is, but it's better to play it safe.

Output

If you've skimmed the headlines and scrolled to the end of the article (I know you love doing this), here's a short list of all the tips:

1. Create a visual image and don't try to impress the reader.
2. Avoid abstruse words and phrases. They may not be familiar to the reader.
3. Remember the main idea and remind the reader of it.
4. You can break the rules, but you have to learn them first.
5. Read on.
6. Edit the resulting text.

Are there many writers among Lifehacker's readers? Tell us about your writing experience. It will be interesting.

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