The Selfish Reason (Ep. 13)
The Selfish Reason (Ep. 13)
Another reason for authors to innovate • Enjoying the writing process
The reader. Every author thinks about their reader when writing. And in previous episodes of Breaking the Rules, I talked about how different narrative techniques can be used to engage the reader and help them understand what they're reading.
But not today.
Today's post is about the author.
It's a short post since we don't want to steal the limelight away from our readers too much!
The selfish reason • I enjoy writing technical articles, as do most technical authors I know. Enjoying the writing process doesn't guarantee high-quality articles, but it helps.
The main reason why I've been experimenting with my technical writing is because I genuinely believe that introducing narrative techniques helps a reader get more out of the article.
But there's a secondary reason. A more selfish reason. This writing style makes the writing process more enjoyable for me. And this matters. Here's why.
Motivation • What keeps an author motivated to write technical articles? I promised a short post today, so I won't try to answer this question. But the more enjoyable the writing process, the more motivated the author.
I'm not a full-time writer. I write my Python articles (and my Breaking the Rules posts) in between my other daily activities. But since I enjoy writing, I make sure I can find time to plan and write articles and come up with different ideas on what to write and how to write. Indeed, I often write when I need to relax.
Mindset • A recurring theme in Breaking the Rules is the reader's mindset. I've written in the past, and will write again in the future, about how narrative techniques can modify a reader's mindset, priming him or her into a state that's more receptive to acquiring and retaining knowledge.
But an author is also human and, therefore, subject to the same psychological effects as the reader. Innovation, creativity, storytelling—these all help the author get into a better mindset. And this leads to better writing and better articles.
Afterword • And as today's theme is "selfishness", a quick reminder that I'm writing these posts primarily for an audience of one—myself. But I'm glad others may find some of my thoughts interesting to read.
