To be a good photographer, you have to see what's actually in the picture. It's easy to concentrate on the "subject" of a photograph, and ignore distracting background details that spoil the total effect. We've all seen snapshots of people who look like they have trees growing out of their heads, or who are standing at a slant because the camera was crooked. In these cases, the photographers didn't see what was in the viewfinder; they had the desired images in their heads and were blind to what was really there.
The same applies to writers. It's easy to think you've written one thing when you've actually written something else. I'm not talking about simple typos (although typos can be symptoms of not paying enough attention to what you're doing). The more significant problem is when you think you've said something clearly, but the result is just confusing...or even worse, the result is at odds with what you intended.
You think you've depicted your hero as smart...but readers think the guy is a stupid jerk. You think you've written great drama...but readers think it's a comedy. You think your setting is daringly original...but readers have seen it all before and they're yawning. A story is a tool for planting your ideas into a reader's head, and if you aren't careful, your tool won't work.
If readers can't follow what you're saying, that's
your problem, not theirs—you haven't made your words
clear enough. It's your job to be comprehensible... or (on
rare occasions) to be incomprehensible in such a way that
readers immediately realize they aren't supposed to
understand what's going on.
| Disclaimer: No story will ever please everyone. If certain readers don't like your subject matter, c'est la vie. But if they don't understand what you're saying, that's something you should learn how to correct. |
Copyright © 2001, James Alan Gardner