On Writing

   Writing has two main purposes: It is a store of information, and a way to transmit information. Moreover, writing is a means of communication that does not depend on instant reception, as does verbal communication.
   Memory, of course, also serves those two purposes, storing the knowledge of an individual as well as the cultural knowledge of the people. But voice communication, either spoken or sung, needs a listener. Writing does not, and can store knowledge far beyond an individual writer's lifetime, and transmit that information to others for many generations.
   Key to both, however, is communication, something today's writers should keep in mind. If your writing is so obtuse that your readers do not understand the information you are trying to transmit, you have failed in your mission: to communicate.
   Know your audience, whether they are readers or listeners. Listeners, of course, can make known immediately that they don't understand what your saying. And they need not actively say so. There is the MEGO phenomenon: My Eyes Glaze Over. Every public speaker, and most parents, have seen it.
   Keep in mind that readers get bored also. Your mission is to communicate. If they don't understand it on first reading, readers have the option of going back and reading a sentence or paragraph a second or third time. But they shouldn't have to. Don't make them. Broadcast news writers know they have only one chance to get their information across to the listener. Print writers should use the same approach.