Hellooo, everybody!
Today we're talking about all the ways writers treat their readers like idiots. This isn't
something I see a lot of writers talking about, but I do see a lot of readers complaining about
it. You're reading a book, just flipping through the chapters, and you suddenly have to pause and
say, “Really? You didn't think I could figure that out on my own?” Basically, when writers treat
their readers like idiots, they over explain. They format their narrative and dialogue in a
way to spell out the finer details, when it isn't really necessary. This is usually out of fear.
As writers we worry, “What if they don't get it?” And the truth is, some readers won't get it.
Not everyone has graduated past Dr. Seuss. But to put it bluntly, when you write for a dumbed down
audience, you create a dumbed down book. That's why it's a good idea to write under the assumption
that your readers are capable and competent enough to understand context clues. Thus,
I am breaking down the ten ways writers treat their readers like idiots, and how to avoid
this issue. I know it's hard but trusting your readers goes a long way in building audience
loyalty. Have you made any of the mistakes on this list? Let me know in the comments below.
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definitely check out The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister, they are also linked below.
Now I'm breaking down the ten ways writers annoy the crap out of their
readers by treating them like they've got beans for brains. Don't make these mistakes,
and if you have, allow me to help you.
Number One (1): Definitions. If you're writing something like fantasy or sci-fi, you may have
invented a term for something futuristic or magical, and thus you have to define it. But
if you're using existing terms in unoriginal ways, you don't have to define them for your
audience. For example, I recently read a fantasy book that heavily relied on rituals. Not only did
we receive a two page definition of what a ritual was, but we were reminded of this definition,
every single time a ritual occurred thereafter. I also read a sci-fi novel where the setting was
mostly terraformed, and once again we received a definition of terraforming. Trust that your
readers know what a ritual or terraforming is. And if they don't know those words,
trust them they have access to the dictionary app. Don't waste precious pages, turning your
book into an encyclopedia, all it does is disrupt the flow and slow down the page.
Number Two (2): “As you know…” We've all read this before. You're in the middle of the book,
and the character breaks the flow of the scene to say, “Well, as you know...” They
then proceed to dump a ton of exposition about the world, or history of the world,
exclusively for the benefit of the reader. Typically, the information laid out is
necessary for the reader to continue to understand the story. The problem is the
character they're speaking to is already aware of this information. That's literally why they
said ‘As you know.’ This disrupts immersion in the story. Readers aren't immediately
aware that you're giving this information to them, which makes it seem like the characters
aren't real. This is not to say you should never provide exposition; it definitely has its place,
especially in stories with complex worlds. But rather than having a character regurgitate this
information to another character, who's already in the know, find another way to communicate it.
This can include educating a character who isn't aware, or providing exposition in the narrative.
Number Three (3): Explicitly stating the theme. A theme is an idea that is conveyed
through a piece of work. It's the underlying feeling or tone of the novel. It's the message
you'll read between the lines. The entire point of a theme is it’s supposed to be suggested at,
and subtle. Readers who are into that sort of thing are supposed to try and figure it out.
Themes are not supposed to be explicitly stated, or worse repeated. That jumps from being thematic
to preaching. “But Jennaaa! How will readers get the theme if I don't explicitly state it to them?”
Having all your readers get the theme shouldn't be your goal in the first place. Not everyone reads
for themes and symbols. A lot of people read just to have a good time. It's perfectly fine if your
work contains an idea or message that you want to convey, but you can't convince all of your readers
to absorb your story through the same lens. And when you shove a theme into readers' faces,
everyone universally hates it. It feels forced, uncomfortable and self-righteous. Instead, write
your themes subtly and appropriately as intended. Readers who are interested in thematic content
will appreciate this, and hopefully pick up on the message. And if they don't, that's fine too.
Number Four (4): The mid story recap. This is something a lot of writers are tempted to do,
especially if they're writing a lengthier novel. They want to remind readers about
situations that occurred earlier in the novel. Usually through some kind of dialogue recap
the character explains the earlier events to another character, thus reminding readers in
the process. Now there are some situations where a recap might be necessary. This is common if
you're revealing a plot twist with very subtle hints. You might need to point out those hints
later on so readers realize that they were there. This is also common if you're writing a sequel,
you might need to provide a very brief recap toward the beginning of the book,
so readers are up to speed. But more often than not, there's no need to recap events
from within the same book. Especially if those events were impactful. Readers will
remember a character's death, they'll remember a fight, they’ll remember a shocking reveal.
You wrote these events to be engaging, and thus they should stick in the reader's mind.
On a similar note, Number Five (5): Repetition. This is usually in regard to smaller details
like a character's eye color, the appearance of a setting, or the meaning behind a sacred tree.
Sometimes writers feel the need to repeat these details over and over again. Maybe it's because
they think readers will forget, or maybe they're being self-indulgent. They just really love that
sacred tree. And it's okay to mention these things a few times. Maybe your characters are having a
romantic moment, so their love interest’s eye color is especially captivating. But if you wax
poetic about a character's sea-green eyes, five times in a single chapter, readers are gonna get
annoyed. We get it, they’re green! Save the repetition for when it brings the most impact
to a scene or description. Otherwise, trust that readers remember the detail, and move on.
Number Six (6): Too many dialogue tags. A lot of us were taught in grade school that every
single piece of dialogue has to have a dialogue tag.
“How are you?” Jenna said. “I'm fine,” Buttercup said. “How are you?” Buttercup asked. “I'm
okay,” Jenna said. “I'd be better if we stopped repeating who the fuck is talking.” Jenna added.
You may be able to tell why this is an issue, based on this example. Too many
dialogue tags reads as repetitive. It slows down the pace of the conversation,
which makes it boring. When it comes to tags, the rule of thumb is to only use a dialogue tag
if you need to make it clear who is speaking. Sometimes dialogue is surrounded by narrative,
and that narrative already makes it clear who is speaking.
For example: Jenna raised her eyebrows and said, “How do I really know if you're
wearing underwear?” In this case you can delete the dialogue tag,
because the narrative makes it clear who is speaking. You couldn't instead write:
Jenna raised her eyebrows. “How do I really know if you're wearing underwear?”
Additionally, if only two people are speaking, it's gonna be extra clear who was speaking at
any given time, because usually their dialogue is going to be one after the next, after the next,
after the next. In this case a dialogue tag should be minimal, and only used for clarity and flow.
Number Seven (7): The world building info dump. You guys already know what this is,
especially if you read sci-fi or fantasy. Readers are given a massive info dump about
the story's world, usually toward the beginning of the novel. Because what better way to start
an adventure than to give a geography lesson. This is something I've talked about in a lot of videos,
so I'll try not to be redundant. When world building it's important to provide information
as it becomes necessary. An info dump out of nowhere is just going to slow the pace,
and make readers think that you don't trust their prowess. You don't need a lengthy explanation
about the world's climate. Instead, readers will figure that out when you're describing the
characters trudging through snow. When it comes to world dumps, readers will either assume you
are a boring rambler, or that you think they're stupid, and neither of those things are good.
Number Eight (8): Self-praise. Sometimes writers will create a character, scene,
or line of dialogue that they're super proud of. And that's great. You should absolutely
be proud of your writing. It's not so great to gloat about said pride in the story itself. I
once read a book that included a song that one of the characters wrote. After revealing the lyrics,
there was a hefty paragraph of narrative all about how beautiful, poetic, and perfectly written the
song lyrics were. I've also read plenty of books where a character says something that's supposed
to be funny or witty. And then we are given a TON of narrative afterward, explaining wow, look at
this character's incomparable humor and charm. It's totally fine to congratulate a character's
songwriting skills, or their humor, but you don't wanna go ham on the praise because it's going to
read as self-congratulatory. You wrote the song, you wrote that funny line. It stops feeling like
a character reaction, and starts feeling like you're patting yourself on the back. And again,
it comes across as though you don't trust that the reader will appreciate the song or the joke,
so you're reminding them to do so just in case. It's okay to acknowledge a character's feelings
regarding a grand gesture. Just be sure not to throw your own pride into the mix.
Number Nine (9): Telling. Showing is when you illustrate a scene, concept,
or description to your readers using your five senses. Telling is when you state something to
the reader as if it is an explicit fact. Both of these are utilized in fiction all the time,
but typically telling should be utilized less than showing. And it's a mistake to
utilize telling if you're trying to convince the reader of an opinion, as opposed to stating an
objective fact. An example of this would be telling the reader ‘The princess was
beautiful.’ This isn’t immersive, you're giving an opinion rather than stating a fact. In this case
showing the princesses beauty by describing her appearance will do a whole lot more to transport
the reader. Plus it should probably illustrate the opinion you're already trying to get across.
If you utilize too much telling on opinion based situations, readers are going to assume that you
don't trust them to get what you're giving. A description of her glistening brown skin should
be more than enough to let readers know that her skincare routine is on point. A description of
her hauntingly dark eyes is more than enough to let us know that her gaze is captivating.
Allow readers to become immersed in the details, and trust that they can read between the lines.
And last but certainly not least, Number Ten (10): The show, then tell. This is when you
provide those amazing show details, but then immediately follow it up with a line or two
of tell, so that you can tell the readers how they are supposed to interpret the show. If
that makes sense. Say the love interest cocks his eyebrow, smirks, and delivers a line of dialogue
that is totally spoon worthy. That right there is show. Then the following line of narrative says,
‘He behaved in a suave and charming manner.’ That right there was tell, and we already knew that,
because you showed it. Now there are exceptions to every rule, and in this case the exception
is character perspective. If you are showing the sexiness of a particular character through
their cocked eyebrow, and their smirk, and their swoon-worthy line of dialogue. It's totally fine
to follow it up with a line of narrative that says something like ‘God dammit, he's fucking
hot.’ There's personality in that sentence, and we can tell that's the character's reaction to what
happened. This is the character's unfiltered opinion, rather than the author's. So in this
case, you're not treating the reader like they're stupid. You're just letting them know that this
character has a major boner for this beefcake. But if every time you SHOW a character, situation, or
scene and then TELL the same character, situation, or scene to the reader, they’re gonna to take
it as though you're covering your bases. You're showing for the smart folks, and telling for the
dummies. Listen, not everyone is gonna get what you write, and that's okay, the human perspective
is wide and varied. But it's better to err on the side of trusting your reader, rather than
spoon feeding them like a toddler. If something doesn't make sense or comes across incorrectly,
trust that your beta readers will let you know and you can fix it then. But for now, allow
the showing to speak for you. Don't feel like you have to force feed your readers. They love
to read books, they've probably read a ton, they can probably understand what you're putting down.
So that's all I got for you today. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post
new videos on Wednesdays, and if you wanna be alerted AS soon as I upload, ring that bell.
Shut Up and Write the Book is available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook all over
the place. It’s at all major retailers, so if you are trying to write your very first book and you
need a guideline, and I know you do, definitely pick it up. It's in the links below. If dark
fantasy romance is more your style, check out The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister,
they’re award winning, they’re bestselling, and the sequel is on its way! I got ‘em link below.
And be sure to follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram, TikTok,
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