If you’re writing for yourself, you may not care too much about grammar, punctuation, spelling, or choosing precisely the right word; this is what diary writing, blogging, or creating “to do” lists are for.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to create something for someone else to read as a way of expressing yourself, that is a different story altogether. In that case, you’re writing for an audience who needs to understand what you’re saying. To do so, you need to consider the language, the industry jargon, and the arrangement of the words you use. It would help if you also thought about the tone of voice you’re trying to convey, the situation you’re portraying, and the work as a whole. Sometimes, in attempting to say something, it can ‘fall flat’ with your audience if they may misunderstand completely.
Any long-form piece written for an external audience needs to answer the following reporter’s questions:
- ‘Who’ the topic is regarding — the question of “who” is not limited to humans. Animals, aliens, robots, and even deities all fill in the question.
- The question of “What” concerns the topic at hand. Also, what part of the topic you’re covering. Let’s say the topic is language. Are we talking human language, animal vocalizations, computer programming, or something else? And let’s say it is human language – are we talking English, French, Spanish, or German?
- Where talks about the location or geography of the topic. ‘Where’ can be a galaxy or sector of space, a planet. If you know that, you might talk about what continent you’re on, what country, what state or province, what city, and even an address. But maybe you’re not looking to give an address. You can mention that it’s a store, a library, a temple, or a mansion in this location – and all those places may have names or be the only ones in the area.
- ‘When’ discusses the timeframe. Remember ‘when’ can be presented as a past, present, future, or a “what if” scenario. But ‘when’ doesn’t need to use the same timekeeping standards or measures we know. We’re used to talking about: o 60 seconds in a minute o 60 minutes in an houro 24 hours in a dayo 7 days a weeko 30/31 days in a montho 365.25 days in a year (and then there’s a whole formula that talks about when a leap year is added and when it is not)
that we no longer “see” these timeframes. But elsewhere, it might not be like this. Maybe time is stretched or minimized in this universe. Or perhaps the characters think about time differently, as they can control its ebb and flow.
● Why is the dialogue concerning motives, explanations, proof, the “heart of the mystery,” etc. Though keep in mind, for some things, why can’t be answered other than “that’s simply the way things are.” But when you can answer why, it is a valuable piece of information. Some examples might be:o He was fired because he stole money.o She crashed her car because she was drunk or high.o The bricks crashed into the ground below because the cord snapped.
● The question of ‘how’ frames the ideas of ‘in what way,’ ‘by what means,’ and ‘for what reason’ succinctly in one word. It also asks about the condition or quality of something. For instance: o ‘How was your vacation?’ or ‘How are you doing today?’ o How do you come to that conclusion?o How could the problem or disaster have been avoided?o How could things get better?
‘How much?’ is a quantifying question. It can be money (USD or otherwise), hours, pounds, pixels, or anything measurable. Some examples:o $4.33 or 5,792 yeno The trip took 2 hours, 37 minuteso The sound measured 160 decibels for a minute. o 334 lbs., a gallon of milk or gas, a bushel of apples o The earthquake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale.
Answering all these things adds to the qualitative aspect of writing for others.
Even with all these various details to keep track of, there’s something to be said about being able to express yourself in writing for others to read. You can express your thoughts and feelings, heart and soul, through it. Whether your audience agrees or disagrees with your message, thinks you’re an idiot or decides to think about the message you put forth is another matter entirely.
As you’re writing, you may wish to use specific tools to help you determine if your piece has the message you’re looking to convey. A Word Counter is a handy tool to determine if you’re going over the character limit for Twitter. The website also has a grammar checker, a keyword finder, and a word comparison tool. It can also unscramble words and generate both random words and random letters. Finally, it offers a blog and grammar tips. Check them out today!