2 Elements Every Writer You Love to Read Has in Common
By: Jake Daghe
Tags: Writing Tips, Literature, Writing, Reading, Writer

2 Elements Every Writer You Love to Read Has in Common

If you’re looking to grow your readership, these are your targets

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

“Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you’re conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader.” — Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

A good writer knows that his or her writing is not just the sharing of thoughts, the processing of emotions, or the observations about particular circumstances and experiences. That’s because a good writer doesn’t think that highly of his or her abilities, nor do they make the mistake of thinking that everything in their lives is interesting and worth reading.

Rather, a good writer is committed to keeping in touch with what his or her readers are actively ingesting. Though relevancy is important in this equation, it is not the primary motivation of good writers, seeing as more often than not, a good writer gives his or her readers what they need to read rather than simply what is most popular at any given time.

Practically speaking, that means a good writer doesn’t just fixate on the national headlines to drive his or her ideation. Rather, a good writer finds inspiration from the underlying tensions and emotions of the average reader, choosing to go a layer beneath the obvious so as to connect and, at times, challenge the reader in ways that would be beneficial to that reader’s livelihood.

It is my belief that many good writers tend to work using a relatively straightforward equation. They may not call each of these categories by the same name, but if you read any good writing, I am certain you will find traces of these elements at play.

10% [Relevancy] + 20% [Personal Interest] + 30%[Relatabiliy] +

40% [Vulnerability] = 100% good writing

The exact percentages should not be dissected, seeing as each is subject to fluctuation on any given piece or article. However, what should be noted and attended to is how each category corresponds with each other.

As mentioned above, relevancy can be an important element of good writing, and yet, it accounts for the lowest percentage within this equation. There should be some connection to the reader and their present circumstance, however, if you’ve found yourself engrossed in Amor Towles The Gentleman In Moscow or Delia Owens Where the Crawdads Sing, you quickly begin to realize that relevancy isn’t the top factor that indicates great writing.

I included personal interest in this equation because it goes without saying that good writing largely often comes from areas that personally interest the writer. If you were a mariner, you may be interested in both reading and attempting to write something similar to Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea. However, if you were an astrologist, an anthropologist, or an activist, you might lack a personal interest in that lane of material and, therefore, your best writing might be done through a different avenue or topic.

While both relevancy and personal interest are important, you will notice that my equation for good writing centers around two larger categories, of which I believe the majority of what we consider to be good writing has in common:

#1 — relatability

#2 — vulnerability