Stop Spoon-Feeding Your Readers
Don’t treat your readers as some dumb-ass morons
Some writers treat their readers as morons who do not have brains inside their heads.
Yes, I know most online readers are quite distracted people searching for easily-digestible stories. But it does not mean that you have to treat them like babies and spoonfeed them tons of takeaways so that they don’t have to think about your story further.
Sorry to say, I pity those writers and, of course, the readers they entertain.
The encyclopedia of takeaways
Let me tell you this straight. Yesterday, I read an article published in Better Marketing that contains takeaways after each section-ending.
The article has 09 sections(excluding introduction and ending), so the writer included nine sets of takeaways. And the funny thing is — he also added a separate section named ‘Summary of Takeaways’ before the concluding part.
After seeing that, I laughed a lot. It’s like reading an encyclopedia of takeaways.
I mean, seriously, do you need nine sets of takeaways with a takeaway-summary in just one article? Seriously, as a reader, are you so stupid that when you finish reading a story, you don’t know what to take from it?
I refuse to believe that online readers are that stupid.
Give your readers a chance to explore your story
Don’t get me wrong! I am not against takeaways. And a writer may include takeaways at the end of his/her article if it is too long and intricate that readers may struggle to grab the key messages.
Some publications, indeed, want their writers to include takeaways at the end of the articles. They believe it will help the readers get some so-called value from the post. But it doesn’t mean that you will make your story an encyclopedia of takeaways.
It is to mention that previously, I have written about it in an article titled ‘What Is Wrong With the Takeaways?’ discussing why you should not always include takeaways in your writings.
It’s a terrible habit to continue as it slowly but surely destroys your writing potentials. And you start producing poor, shallow, lifeless stories to satisfy your readers. Moreover, you become reluctant to experiment with your writing style and structure, fearing that your readers may not understand it.
I believe every writer should give their readers a chance to explore their stories and appreciate the beauty that lies behind them.
Let your readers fall in love with your sentence structure, tone, and the way you convey your message. Above all, help them have an enjoyable reading experience from you.
On the contrary, if you include too many takeaways in the form of listicles, most likely, your readers will skim the entire story and only read the takeaways and then fly away.
To conclude
Write with clarity so that readers may understand what you are talking about from what angle. Engage your readers by enhancing the quality of your writing.
Stop treating your readers as some morons who have no idea what they read and what to take from it. Stop spoonfeeding them with so many takeaways. They are not your babies.
Respect your readers and give them the chance to explore your writing and take whatever they want from it.
Thank you for reading.
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