How the Creative Choices of the Author Affect the Reader
Creative choices are usually associated with fiction writing. It is traditionally thought that fiction writers are the ones with all the genre-defining creative choices to make. They are the ones, after all, who work in made-up universes where all the rules are in a state of flux and where the characters’ fate is not decided until the author says so. Right?
Perhaps. Or rather yes, but not only. In truth writers make creative choices all the time, even when we are not writing fiction. You’d think of course that non-fiction writing is pretty much cut-and-dried. After all, if we are not making up anything and we are really relating what is (or what will be) extrapolating from cold, hard facts, then what is there to decide?
The truth is that a writer whether of fiction or non-fiction is not just a creator, they are also a metafilter, straining through their own conscious awareness a perception of what the reader wants to know and expects to gain. Take my latest book as an example. In writing “Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, Increase Brand Impact, and Amplify Your Online Presence” a book on semantic search that details the best practical ways to operate on the semantic web I had not only to put in everything a reader would need to help them create greater visibility for their online business and make better use of the semantic web but I also had to actively think what the reader might already know (and how to guide them from there) and what they’d expect to find when they picked up the book.
These two points of reference created a roadmap for the creation of the content that had me make compromises in some chapters, create an entirely new one, add a lot more depth to others and make some others, still, a lot less technical and academic than I might otherwise had been inclined to make them.
Although the writing of the book was squarely on my shoulders at no point did I go for what I wanted to write as the only guide. For a start when it comes to search and the development of the web I am versed with the latest research and I am truly excited by academic flights of fancy that try to take search concepts into a new sphere. There is an elegance to the mathematics behind it all that I find attractive. They express concepts in a clinical, real-world ambiguity-free way that helps concentrate the mind and reveal what is possible. And it is addictive. Yet to the reader this is of scant practical use.
What the reader wants to know is: When is something happening, how will it impact their online work life and what should they do about it, in that order. This forces a different set of choices to be made. So what I included in the book and what I left out was guided by the precise need of the reader rather than the desire of the author.
To my mind authors and readers are mutually involved in an unwritten contract. Readers who pick up a book and pay money for it place their trust and a not insignificant amount of faith on the author. An author then needs, in turn, to respect that and create the kind of book the reader is most likely to find works for them. Authors who ignore that contract and just write the books they want to write, end up pleasing themselves more than their audience and that ends up being disappointing, ultimately, for both.
Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (Seo) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, Increase Brand Impact, and Amplify Your Online Presence
Perhaps. Or rather yes, but not only. In truth writers make creative choices all the time, even when we are not writing fiction. You’d think of course that non-fiction writing is pretty much cut-and-dried. After all, if we are not making up anything and we are really relating what is (or what will be) extrapolating from cold, hard facts, then what is there to decide?
The truth is that a writer whether of fiction or non-fiction is not just a creator, they are also a metafilter, straining through their own conscious awareness a perception of what the reader wants to know and expects to gain. Take my latest book as an example. In writing “Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, Increase Brand Impact, and Amplify Your Online Presence” a book on semantic search that details the best practical ways to operate on the semantic web I had not only to put in everything a reader would need to help them create greater visibility for their online business and make better use of the semantic web but I also had to actively think what the reader might already know (and how to guide them from there) and what they’d expect to find when they picked up the book.
These two points of reference created a roadmap for the creation of the content that had me make compromises in some chapters, create an entirely new one, add a lot more depth to others and make some others, still, a lot less technical and academic than I might otherwise had been inclined to make them.
Although the writing of the book was squarely on my shoulders at no point did I go for what I wanted to write as the only guide. For a start when it comes to search and the development of the web I am versed with the latest research and I am truly excited by academic flights of fancy that try to take search concepts into a new sphere. There is an elegance to the mathematics behind it all that I find attractive. They express concepts in a clinical, real-world ambiguity-free way that helps concentrate the mind and reveal what is possible. And it is addictive. Yet to the reader this is of scant practical use.
What the reader wants to know is: When is something happening, how will it impact their online work life and what should they do about it, in that order. This forces a different set of choices to be made. So what I included in the book and what I left out was guided by the precise need of the reader rather than the desire of the author.
To my mind authors and readers are mutually involved in an unwritten contract. Readers who pick up a book and pay money for it place their trust and a not insignificant amount of faith on the author. An author then needs, in turn, to respect that and create the kind of book the reader is most likely to find works for them. Authors who ignore that contract and just write the books they want to write, end up pleasing themselves more than their audience and that ends up being disappointing, ultimately, for both.
Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (Seo) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, Increase Brand Impact, and Amplify Your Online Presence
date
newest »
newest »
Tom, thank you and I am sorry I am only just getting to this. I have been away to shanghai on business for a week and the days leading up to it were pretty hectic. You are right in that writing a non-fiction book is a battle of sorts. Basically you need to start out with a general direction and then use the research to see what holds and what doesn't. acting as a filter of sorts for the reader. Fiction writing is just as laborious and mental energy-intensive but it is different in how this is applied. There is a long tradition of romance novels written by men that in itself might someday make a very interesting thesis to explore. Does the male point of view of romance, under a nom de plume that's usually female, have had a positive or negative impact on the view of romance in general. Have we imposed a distinct male flavour upon the world? Or are men, writing under a pseudonym, unfettered? Their point of view suddenly gender-politics neutral? Food for thought. :)
David Amerland on Writing
Writing has changed. Like everything else on the planet it is being affected by the social media revolution and by the transition to the digital medium in a hyper-connected world. I am fully involved
...more
- David Amerland's profile
- 199 followers
I have never written anything longer than a 2500 word blog post, but it seems like writing a non-fiction book would be hard. I do a fair amount of research, double and triple checking facts for a blog post. I can't imagine doing that for a book. It would take me forever!
I can also imagine how writing truly good fiction would be laborious too, with all the character development, choosing plot lines and knowing which way to go.
I love to write, but I see writing romance novels under a feminine nom de plume in my future!