Writing

Do You Want Them To Read

Try Not To Bury Your Lede

Okay, I’m going to dive into the point straightaway. We all want more people to read what we write. Whether it’s for monetary gain, an ego stroke, or camaraderie and comments, we writers need readers. Lot’s and lots of readers.

The biggest challenge is, of course, building your tribe of loyal fans who enjoy reading what you write. That’s what I’m going to talk about today — a possible way to increase your reader base.

No, I’m certainly not an authority on the topic. I’m not saying this is the be-all cure for everyone’s writing woes. I’m just offering a few observations, taking my own work as an example.

I wrote an article here on Illumination almost a month ago, where I examined how writing on this publication has improved my overall statistics. First observation. It has. Just from a volume perspective, my view and read count has increased by almost 70%. Not too shabby at all.

I’d like to extend my gratitude to the owner and all the hard-working writers/readers and editors on Illumination.

The second thing I noticed was I only had a 50% read to view ratio. I was getting a lot more views, but only 50% of the readers were staying to read the pieces. I’ve read where other writers believe a 50% read rate should be expected, and that’s pretty much all a writer’s going to get.

I don’t know about that. I think I, along with many other writers, can do much better. So, how do I change this?

My first thought was, of course, it had to be the content, right? I mean, it could be that a lot of the readers just got bored after the second paragraph or two and backed out and went their merry way.

So, I took a hard look at the 69 pieces I wrote in April of this year (I know, I can’t help myself) first examining the content under the microscope.

Well, the messages weren’t bad. Yeah, some of the titles were a bit cheesy. But they weren’t clickbaity. At least I didn’t think they were. So why was I losing so many readers after they clicked on one of my stories?

Then I noticed a particular trait of mine I didn’t realize I’d been doing. On most of the stories, the message, the main direction, thoughts, or point, I wanted the reader to focus on was written almost midway through the piece. Sometimes not until the very last of the article.

I was consistently burying my lede.

I’m sure most of you know why it’s written lede instead of lead, right? If you don’t, or simply never thought about before, it’s journalism jargon for the salient or most important part of the story. It’s often spelled lede instead of lead, which could be misinterpreted as the metal Pb.

So burying my lede meant instead of throwing the most essential part of the story, the point I wanted to make, down on the table at the get-go, I was holding back and then bringing it up halfway through the piece or at the very end.

Doh!

It’s one thing to draw out a fictional tale over several chapters, building the story to a triumphant climax. It’s what most readers expect. But on a piece like this, the reader expects the writer to get to the point, state their reasoning and rationale, which supports that point and then get the h*ll off the stage.

Think of it this way. Scroll back up and reexamine the photo on this piece. It’s the tomb of a very prominent leader. Look at all the hieroglyphs on the ceiling and walls on either side of the stairs. They contain the story, the leader’s story, told by pictographs. The leader’s entire life and death spelled out with each step you take down the stairs.

You finally reach the crypt and inspect the intricate carvings on the sarcophagus, but the thing is, it’s not the sarcophagus that left you in awe. Even if the sucker is plated with gold. You’ve seen gold before.

Okay, you read the story as you went along, but here’s the thing. You may not have thought about it this way, but you’re standing in the lede of the story.

The entire edifice was built to bring attention to this leader. Before you even took the first step you were gazing at the lede of the story, the story which captivated your interest and compelled you to step inside.

That’s something I’d not thought about before. On almost every piece I’ve written to date, I had buried the salient points I wanted to make beneath a ton of superfluous words thinking these words were building my point.

They weren’t.

Take it from me folks, ’cause I’ve learned a valuable lesson here. One of the best ways to get readers to read your work is, of course, by writing quality content. Others are to emphasize your salient point or message upfront, keep your readers interested in what you have to say, and do it with as few words as possible.

Just have your shovel handy in case you discover you’ve somehow managed to bury the lede of your story.

Easy peasy, right?

Thanks So Much For Reading

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© P.G. Barnett, 2020. All Rights Reserved.