Reading is one of the great pleasures in life, there is no doubt. A few days ago we echoed our particular ranking with 50 essential books that you have to read once in your life, and today we are back for more, although from a different point of view.
On this occasion we will review the most useful writing tips when structuring and developing a text, both in the art world and outside of it.
We are constantly communicating with written words; They are part of our life and our cultural heritage. We have all felt at some point the need to write down our thoughts or our stories, and writing can be therapeutic.
Maybe we are not literary geniuses like Gabriel Garcia Marquez either William Shakespeare, but the demand for paper and pen (or the keyboard for digital natives) often comes to us. However, putting the ideas and reflections that pass through our minds on paper can be a complicated undertaking, and if not, ask writers and their dreaded “blank page syndrome.”
Steven Pinker brings us the psychological keys to writing better
One of the most renowned psychologists today, Steven Pinker, a linguist and cognitive psychologist at Harvard University, has some answers to help us progress when it comes to the art of writing.
In his book The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century (Sense of Style: The Thinker’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century), published in 2014, Pinker advises us and offers us a complete guide for those of us who want to improve as writers
Furthermore, his suggestions and teachings are based on a multitude of scientific research in the field of neuroscience and cognitive psychology: Pinker reviews the findings in the functioning system of our brain and teaches us to improve our ability to write. The author proposes a series of techniques and strategies that aim to understand how our mind works so that we know how to get the most out of it, in this case to be more creative and efficient when writing.
Psychological advice for writers
Below, we have summarized the six points on which Steven Pinker’s teachings are based. If you want to be a writer and improve your stories, this can help you.
1. Put yourself in the shoes (and mind) of the reader
Readers don’t know what you know This seems like a very obvious point, but it is not so obvious. If there are people who do not fully understand what you are trying to convey to them through your texts, the problem is not theirs, but yours. I’m sorry.
The psychological reason for this failure when writing is that our brain tends to take a lot of knowledge, data and arguments for granted because you already know them, but do your readers know them as well as you? Probably not, and this is a frequent problem and one that must be known how to face, with self-criticism and reflection.
Steven Pinker calls this error the “curse of knowledge,” and it is the inability of many writers to understand that others they don’t know what they know This leads to unclear texts, where things are taken for granted that disconcert the reader. In his book, Pinker states that the best method to avoid falling into this mistake (which by the way is one of the most common according to editors) is to send a draft of the text to a person without specific knowledge, and ask him if he understands everything, or not.
2. Use a direct style, with images and conversations
Cognitive psychology never tires of repeating that More than 30% of our brain has functions associated with vision Pinker also points out that there is a lot of scientific evidence that shows that readers understand and are able to remember more elements of text that have to do with language that evokes images.
Furthermore, it is advisable to use a conversational style and conceive of the reader as a known person: this will make them feel part of the story and the writer’s inner world. However, Pinker asserts, writing with a style focused on impressing the reader achieves the opposite effect, and the reader may feel overwhelmed and notice a lot of distance from what the author wants to convey.
In fact, research found that many university students deliberately used highly complex vocabulary to appear more intelligent In fact, the simplest texts at a lexical level coincided with authors of higher intelligence.
The trick to finding a good harmony between reader and author, according to Pinker, is that as a writer you imagine that you are in a conversation with someone who has a similar cultural level to yours, but who has a little less knowledge than you in the field of the one you are talking about. In this way you can guide the reader and make him discover some things that you already know but that he doesn’t yet.
3. Put the reader in context
You need to explain to the reader what the objective of the text is, why you are telling them something, what they are going to learn from it Research reported that readers who know the context from the beginning of reading are better able to thoroughly understand the text.
Pinker himself emphasizes this point, noting that readers must know the background to be able to read between the lines and connect all the concepts and arguments in a more intuitive way. This means that the reader places himself in the text based on his prior knowledge, and that helps him better understand what he is reading. In fact, if no reference is found to contextualize, the reader will be unable to adequately understand the lines in front of him; it will be a superficial reading.
The advice is clear: As authors we must locate the reader, show them what the topic of the text is and what we want to explain Although some writers refuse to do this so as not to take away suspense and mystery from the text, the truth is that it seems much more reasonable to win over the reader from the first moment and keep their attention and interest throughout reading than not to trust that, Without being able to contextualize, you will even be able to finish the first paragraph.
4. Creativity (but common sense) when following the rules
With this we do not mean that we do not have to respect the rules of spelling and grammar, but when we are writing we must also leave some room for creativity and improvisation. The dictionary is not a sacred book, Pinker argues. What’s more: dictionary editors are in charge of reflecting in each new edition the trends and uses of certain terms, and this can only be achieved by being connected to society, which is the engine that gives meaning to language.
Yes indeed: You need to know the rules well so you can break them from time to time with a good dose of creativity Creativity, of course, should be a sign of quality, not an opportunity to show that we wanted to be “over-smart.” If you do not know the writing rules of a language in depth, it is better that you do not try to reinvent the wheel and stick to some orthodox canons in your texts. There will be time to innovate later.
5. Never stop reading
This and other writing guides are interesting and valuable tools, but If you want to improve as a writer, you need to read a lot, day by day
Pinker’s vision is very clear: to be a writer of great quality, one must immerse oneself in various books and texts, trying to learn new languages, literary resources, new terms and idioms with which to grow as a thinker and, therefore, as writer.
It’s simple: continuing to learn and research is one of the keys to expanding your mental horizons and, consequently, your writing skills.
6. Review the texts thoroughly and patiently
To be an excellent writer, it is not recommended that you try to write magnificent texts the first time, against the clock. In fact, that is a skill that few, very few, master. Actually, It is much better that you dedicate a lot of care and time to reviewing and reconstructing your texts
Steven Pinker believes that revision is one of the keys to good writers. “Very few authors are self-demanding enough to capture the exact words that best explain what they want to convey. Less is more. This is achieved with the ability to know how to review and refine each paragraph, each sentence. When we write, we need to review and rephrase to make the message clear and adequately reach the reader,” Pinker argues.
Beyond the recommendations and writing guidelines that have been proposed by this psychologist, keep the following in mind.
1. Be clear about whether it is an artistic or purely expository text
Literature of an artistic nature is based on the principle of “show or describe” that is, it tries to generate sensations and climates that subtly transmit the desired concepts and feelings in the reader.
Instead, literature whose objective is outside the world of art must bet everything on concreteness to ensure that you convey a series of specific ideas directly, leaving no room for ambiguity.
Therefore, being clear about whether the text corresponds to one or another type of literature is key to considering from the beginning how to structure the text and choose words. Of course, there are some forms of writing that can build bridges between the two types of literature; For example, in scientific dissemination artistic elements are taken, combining them with the need to describe hypotheses, scientific laws, experiments, etc.
2. Don’t mix topics in a chaotic way
Remember that the human mind understands and memorizes information better if it is presented in thematic blocks That is why if, for example, in one paragraph you are talking about a topic and in the next you move on to another, it is not advisable that in the third you abruptly return to the first topic addressed, leaving aside the previous one; tries to distribute the explanation of concepts by “blocks”.
Likewise, if you are explaining a story, avoid constantly making time jumps (flashbacks or flash-forwards); Every time you do it, you make it more difficult for the reader.
3. If you write a narrative, don’t try to make the protagonist like you too much.
What makes a protagonist interesting is not the set of positive qualities he or she possesses; In fact, if you go too far in making him/her into someone who fits the “ideal citizen” model, it can be too unrealistic, making it difficult for readers to connect with that person.
Therefore, instead of idealizing the protagonist, make readers identify with the character, which involves exposing their defects and imperfections. In this way, in addition to placing someone with a deeper personality full of nuances at the center of the story, you will be able to create novels and stories with a wide creative freedom, to the point that you can even use as a protagonist someone who in another narrative might even have filled the role of antagonist or “villain.”
One last thought
The ability to communicate through texts and books is something that can be learned. It is only necessary to practice and put our talent into action.
These strategies and techniques to improve writing that Steven Pinker has given us can help us empathize with our readers and get our message across in the best way possible. Write!
