Your Relationship with the Pen

Brianne Keith, Elite Ghostwriter, Mangus Media Group

 Whizzing through my YouTube feed, I recently came across a thumbnail for a video on writing that said, “Why Is There So Much Bad Writing?” Intrigued, I quickly clicked on it. Turns out it was an interview with Harvard psychology professor and noted linguist Steven Pinker. He was being interviewed by David Perell, a YouTube podcaster who calls himself “The Writer Guy,” who interviews top names in the field on their creative process. I was locked in.

 So what does Pinker blame for “so much bad writing” out there? Not what you might first think. Some might blame the digital age, and how it has led to an overall “relaxing” of standards. Instead of long, carefully constructed letters, we now communicate in punchy, emoji-laden emails and texts. Others might cite AI-generated language, which seems glossy at first, but often comes apart at the seams (not to mention feel robotic and stale). The truth is, “bad” writing has always existed. We’re likely just more exposed to it because we’re inundated with language in general. Just think of many words pass your eyeballs every day!

 Pinker, instead, cites something else—an author’s inability to consider what an audience knows. This might seem simple, but, in my mind, like Pinker, I agree it’s a very subtle psychological shift an author needs to make to create writing with real impact.

 I used to think about this often in my 20s, when I noticed that whenever I started writing creatively — actually taking pen to paper—a sort of shift happened in my mind. I couldn’t “hide”—what I was saying was what I meant. We might come up with all sorts of romantic language for this, but what it really is, something I like to call “an honest relationship with the pen.” It’s a sort of orientation towards the page, but also towards the person on the other side of the page—your reader. The most dazzling language—whether figurative or purely informational—will be imbued with this kind of orientation.

 In plain terms, it’s often hard to understand what people know outside of what you know. This comes up in the process of doing all sorts of writing, from fictional to academic. When we write, it can get lost in the shuffle that we’re actually communicating with someone who is not us. Someone who doesn’t share not only our knowledge, but also our background, our experiences, our wins, our losses, our vision. When you write, you are essentially presenting a “vision” to another person, even if you’re just communicating basic factual information. It needs shape, and that shape needs to be constructed intentionally.

 This is why, whether you’re writing your book, your article, or even a simple email, it is important to think about who you’re writing to and why. It’s why we might ask someone, “Hey—can you look this over?” before we hit send, especially on something important.

 For example, I’m imagining you now, reading this. You’ve come to this page to get some insight, maybe on writing your book, thinking about how it will actually get done. Maybe you want some inspiration, or some “cheat sheet” knowledge to glean as you construct your opus. It’s all good. The one thing I will say to you is this—before you do anything, imagine your audience. Imagine who they are, what they know, even what they look like. Now, imagine yourself speaking to them, right now, as you write.

 Remember, a ghostwriter will actually “be” that person, in many cases. That’s the beauty and magic of the ghostwriter-author relationship. You have someone to talk to, who can give you real-time feedback on how your writing, or simply your ideas, are going to land in the real word. And that is the start of creating writing that has real impact.

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