Why I Don’t Write So A 5th Grader Can Understand

Well, for one, because my audience is not 5th graders…

Common wisdom in the business space is to write so a 5th grader can understand you.

There are apps like Hemingway as well as a whole slew of newer AI writing helpers that have come out recently, reinforcing and facilitating this.

I did it for years, artificially dumbing down my content and I can see the reason for it.

As a business owner marketing on social media, you want to grab the attention of as many people as possible and you only have a short time to do it.

I get it.

But I’m done with it.

In Business

As a health coach, what I found was that the people who made the effort to reach out to me, who took the time to consume my content, and who didn’t get hung up about the price were the best clients.

Persevering when you come across a difficult word or committing more than a few seconds to consume an article are both traits of people who are more likely to be successful in any endeavor.

So, perhaps, NOT writing as if for a 5th grader could actually improve the quality of my leads AND therefore the quality of the results and satisfaction of the clients.

Seems like a win to me.

In Writing

When I read, I like to discover new words and new ways of saying things. One of the wonders of language in general, is the ability to convey deeper, more nuanced meaning by using particular words. It would be a shame to miss out on this.

Now, some people take this too far, vomiting a thesaurus over their writing, in a bid to sound more intelligent than they are… but I think this is as easy to spot as it is annoying.

Overall, I think there is a balance to be found here between comprehension and vocabulary and this reaches a natural equilibrium when someone slowly increases their lexicon organically over time.

What about jargon?

I find jargon REALLY annoying. Its use outside of scientific literature is often a sign of laziness and insecurity.

It may or may not have been Einstein who said something along the lines of: “If you can’t explain it to a 6-year-old then you don’t understand it yourself”.

Explaining a concept simply is very different from writing eloquently. You can do both.

For example, when explaining a heart attack to a patient or the mechanism for fat loss to a client, using jargon and big words is simply an ego play to try to impress or bamboozle.

Whereas if I were writing an article about my experiences of working in the ER and treating heart attacks, using a more varied vocabulary would be acceptable and could even enrich the experience.

Ultimately, I write for me

I write as a tool for personal development and as a vehicle for self-actualization and fulfillment.

Therefore, first and foremost, I am writing for myself thus enjoyment of the process is something that I want to sustain.

This means writing in a natural way, using words that feel good, and explaining things simply because it signals to me that I understand what I’m talking about.

What I want to avoid is artificially dumbing down my writing for the internet.

Not only does this feel better but it also seems to trim the trolls and time wasters from my audience. An unexpected boon.

And with all of this said, my writing could still be consumed by a 12-year-old. A fair balance I think :P