Articles unadorned yield reasons to write

Time is of the essence. This is something that I consider as a writer and a reader. When I write at work, my audience is system administrators. I know they have bitten off more than they can chew. I know they're very busy, so I keep my text light and terse. I use short bullet points for progress reports. I stay on point to make my report easy to digest.

Here, on Steemit, people read for recreation, so I have license to write more words, provide more context and to paint a picture in your mind. I have latitude for subject matter and the depth of exploration. At the same time, I must consider what will keep the reader engaged long enough to finish the article.

To attract others to and to convince them to read my articles, I have considered the use of headings and pictures to "adorn" my articles. I love eye-candy just as much as anyone else. I'm not really a graphic artist or photographer, and I'm not much of a typesetter, considering where to put headings and sidebars. So I stick to what I know and love, and that is writing.

I also appreciate the imagination and how it can work. Writing has given me a great appreciation for the way the mind wanders, and I make use of that feature of the mind, here. Writing is also a source of introspection. I use writing to explore how my mind works, how to organize my thoughts and how to express what I'm thinking.

I write in a somewhat informal, conversational style. If my audience is someone I know, I want the reader to hear my voice in their heads (and they tell me they do hear my voice when they read my prose). If not, I want the reader to hear a voice in their heads speaking the words in my article. I want that voice to give the reader incentive to keep reading until the very end.

Touching upon the imagination is what I look for in an article. Does the article give me enough information to imagine what is described to me? Here is a useful example, a joke I wrote long ago. It's a bit dark, but it is a useful illustration of how I like to let the imagination work:

So I was driving to work one day and an SUV cut me off on the freeway. Then he promptly slowed down in front of me to just below the speed limit and less than perfect lane discipline. He had a bumper sticker that read, "SUV drivers do it without looking." Then, without warning or even a signal, he took the next exit.

So I continued on my merry way to work. I was listening to music and upon a quick glance in my side mirror, I saw an SUV coming up fast to my left. Then he cut me off and slowed down. WTF? He had a bumper sticker, too. "If you don't like the way that I'm driving, get off the sidewalk." At least he had the courtesy to signal when he took the next exit.

A few more miles and a few more minutes later, a giant, pearly white Aviator SUV comes up on my left, changes lanes without signaling and slows down in front of me. I guess I'm here for the buffet. He also had a bumper sticker. In tiny little letters it read, "What was that?"

I know, long slow joke. And it's dry humor. But each bumper sticker is it's own joke, and the first two are real bumper stickers that I've seen. The last one, I made it up, and laughed when I first came up with this little story. I've used it in stand up comedy before and it works great.

Each paragraph sets the scene. Each paragraph requires the imagination to work, to conjure the images from the words and personal experience. Each paragraph engages the reader to use his mind and think of all the times he's been cut off, or somehow slighted while driving. Each example echoes the stereotype of the rude driver, in a larger vehicle, not really paying attention.

When I write, I am always playing to the imagination. I am always thinking of ways to paint that picture, to provide the context that is needed to get to the point. I am also thinking about how the mind wanders and how I can use that to effect. I know that while people are reading, in the back of their minds, they are thinking of their own experience and how what they're reading corresponds with their own lives. It is my hope to make that connection, however subtle my efforts may be.

I write to see if the words will stand on their own. That is why I tend to leave them unadorned with pictures, and headings. I write because writing engages my own imagination. I write because writing allows my mind to wander.

There is one other aspect to writing that I enjoy. Writing is improvisation. The first paragraph sets the scene and the circumstance. Everything else is plot, but I have to make it up, to conjure it up as I go. It's a sort of white magic, for it is intended to shine the light on the subject of the article.

I write because the process of writing reminds me of who I am and permits me to learn more about me. Every article I write makes me think. I think about the subject of the article. How do I characterize the subject? What are the most striking attributes? How do I express my experience of that subject?

Then I think about how to put all that into words, and all of that takes effort. The process of turning experience into words on paper also makes me think. I liken it to engineering. Do the words convey my experience? So I read the words again to make sure that my experience is properly conveyed. Words tend to limit our perception of reality, but they also lend precision to our expression. Words cut both ways.

So if you ever wondered why I don't dress up my articles a bit more, you know why. I'm not an artist, and I'm not a typesetter. I stick to the word, for better or worse and post it to see if it sticks.