by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

“I read for the love of reading.” I hear my 93-year-old-momma say that weekly. “Don’t expect me to remember it in a couple of weeks. Just make sure the words are clear, so I don’t stumble over them. I read because I love to read. The story soaks in for a short time, and then it’s gone. But if I find a book that makes me have to re-read pages, then I put it down. Don’t you dare do that when you write.” Who am I to argue with Momma? Right?

Clarity is important. Some readers soak in every word. They ponder and dwell in the moment of the book. Others are like my mother, who breezes through two novels a week. They simply read because they love to read, and they don’t want anything to hinder the flow of the read. Again, clarity is vital.

I recently taught at a conference in Chicago. As I left the building I was teaching in, I heard a conferee behind me spouting her frustrations. “Sometimes I feel like conference teachers are harping at me. Learn the craft. Write tight. Be clear. Bla, bla, bla.”

As a one of those conference teachers, my first inclination was to say, “Then do those things. We say them for a reason.” But, I didn’t. Instead, I stopped and let her catch up to me.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your statement about conference teachers harping at you. I’m really sorry you feel that way. I’m one of those teachers and I never want my conferees to feel as though I’m harping at them. So, do you mind telling me why you feel this way? How can I improve?” After the color returned to her face, she realized I wasn’t on the defensive, so she began to explain her reasoning.

“I guess harp wasn’t the right choice of words. It just seems I hear that a lot. But I write very clear. Anyone can understand what I write.”

I laughed. “Oh my. Well, let’s talk about that.” And I went on to give her examples of very well-seasoned authors, who admitted they had to rewrite some things that weren’t clear. Sometimes it’s a word or two, at other times it may be the inflection of a scene, or even the culture of an area. Our conversation continued in a good way and we ended up laughing together over the remark. We both walked away from the conversation a bit wiser.

The job of a writer is to communicate first and foremost. If we can’t communicate properly, it doesn’t matter how wonderful the story is. Folks won’t get it.

It’s hard at times to understand everyone does not communicate or comprehend they way we do. After all, our writing goes all over the world. Different people, cultures, and areas of the country interpret differently. Recently, we received a devotion submission. As a publisher on a website, we reserve the right to edit. It’s clearly written in our guidelines. On this devotion, we changed a couple of words for clarity. The author came back very upset. She accused us of being poor editors, and if that wasn’t enough, we’d made her sentence grammatically incorrect. She was an English teacher of 27 years. When we responded that the sentence needed clarification for other parts of the country, she responded again that she was humiliated we had made her sentence incorrect, she had, after all, checked with several friends who all agreed her wording was fine.

Do you see the need for clear communication? After checking with 4 other editors and that silly little book called Chicago Style Manual, I confirmed our editors had indeed, done a wonderful job and the sentence was not incorrect. Communication is vital, not only to the reader, but to editors and publishers as well.

As a writer of Appalachian historical, I must continually remember that just because we say something one way in the mountains, doesn’t necessarily mean it will translate to the northwestern part of the U.S. the same way. Readers need solid clarification when they read. It ‘s my job to make sure everything I write is clear and to consider that editors, who have experience in that area, may be correct.

I once wrote in my novel about going over the gap. I understood what that meant – going through the gap of the mountains to another mountain. However, my editor wasn’t clear. She needed the gap to have a name so she could keep her bearings.  We still laugh about that, but the truth of the matter is, it wasn’t clear. Naming the gap didn’t change the meaning of my story, it only enhanced it for readers. Now, I name the gaps of the mountains if I cross one and oddly enough, I’ve not had one editor come back and say it’s not clear.

My mother loves to read. It’s pure joy for her to breeze through a story, follow it seamlessly, and then close it. But isn’t that why we do what we do? We write for the love of writing. We tell stories for the love of the story so that readers can read for the love of reading. It’s a circle. An important one.

As you craft your stories, remember the importance of clarity. Be open to suggestions and remember what my Momma said. “Just make sure the words are clear, so I don’t stumble of them. I read because I love to read. The story soaks in for a short time and then it’s gone. But if I find a book that makes me have to re-read pages, then I put it down.”

Don’t be one of the books that gets put down. Tweak. Refine. Clarify. All for the love of reading.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. She is the cofounder of ChristianDevotions.us and the executive editor of ChristianDevotions.us and InspireaFire.com. Cindy is the managing editor for Straight Street Books and SonRise Devotionals, both imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She is an award-winning and best-selling author and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com.  @cindydevoted