And so you say to yourself, “Wait a second, this is a writing lesson, not a speaking lesson!” And you are right.  BUT, where do you think speeches start?  They all start by being written.  The only difference is the delivery, will your audience read it or listen to you speak it?The key in writing, no matter the delivery, is edit, edit, edit.

I used to develop, design and write a large website for a medical college.  I had to spend a lot of time with doctors who wanted to put up information about their department, research, etc.  My main effort was always in first convincing them that their audience on the website was not primarily an academic audience but a general information audience.  Then, after they edited down their material based on my instructions, I took that same material and winnowed it down much further with my own edits.

It had to fit the audience expectations, and the expectations for the web reader was to be able to get quick, easily seen and understood information.  We always gave them access to more detailed, scholarly information if they wanted it, but the vast majority didn’t.

Who is your audience? It’s important to consider whether writing a query letter to an agent, a thank you note, a novel or a speech.  Write for them and leave out the parts they will want to skip.

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

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This drawing initially appeared yesterday at Rachelle Gardner’s blog.  She is a literary agent and we are collaborating on a series about writing.

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