Writing is Re-Writing: Setting the Reader’s Agenda

In this second part of this 2 part series “Writing is Re-Writing,” I’m going to discuss setting the reader’s agenda.

First, you have to find a reader. Certainly, you can hire someone from The Write Alley; we’d be happy to help you either in person or online.

But it’s important to nurture a community of readers from your family, friends, or your Mastermind group, people you can turn to for response. And people you will help in return.

A good reader is a shining light along the revision path.

Even a good reader can’t help you much if you don’t set a clear agenda in advance. Knowing what your agenda is might help you decide who you want to ask for feedback.

In my case, trying to write a short bio for The Women’s Conference, I wasn’t worried about spelling, punctuation or grammar and I was confident about the content–what I was saying and how I said it. What I needed was help cutting it down; I needed suggestions for what my readers thought I could cut and how to cut it. So that’s the agenda I set.

I turned to friends who knew me and the story and friends who write to help me with this difficult task. Wine industry publicist Jo Diaz, author of the blog Juicy Tales by Jo, Tea Silvestre of WEV and Social Good Consulting who nominated me, author and blogger Danika Dinsmore responded quickly with concrete revision suggestions and support.

With their suggestions, I reworked the bio down from 140 words to 115. Then my friend Annie Domonoske stopped by. She’s worked with a number of businesses helping them grow and she’s coached me too (since 1997!) She pointed out that I didn’t mention enough about The Write Alley or blogging or how what I do is work with women, small businesses, artists, and wineries on writing and using social media tools! “What’s most important here?” she kept asking me. Next thing I knew, I was back up to 130 words!

Laid off from full-time college teaching and administrative positions, Gwendolyn Alley needed to change her career direction. Her part-time teaching wasn’t enough  to support her family, especially with the economy threatening her husband’s job of 25 years. A scholarship from The Women’s Conference allowed the mid-40s mother and avid blogger to enroll in a $2,500 Women’s Economic Ventures 14-week Self-Employment Training course. That same day, her husband broke his C2 vertebrae. While nursing him to a full recovery, Gwendolyn wrote a business plan for The Write Alley Coaching and Writing Strategies to coach women business owners in writing and using social media tools. In May 2010 she graduated with honors, serving as class speaker. She’s now building her business even though she recently lost her most important coach: her mother.

I sent it off, hoping it would be acceptable. Unfortunately, the yesterday morning, I heard it was not: no more than 80 words I was told. Just in time, Annie came by and in 30 minutes, we sliced and diced and pared it down to the required 80 words! It was so great to have someone sitting beside me as we struggled to convey such a complicated story in so few words. Later that afternoon, I had a few minutes to review what we’d done. I made a few minor changes and sent it off again last night. Today I heard back that the bio would work and be published in the conference program–which means it will be in the hands of over 10,000 women.

Here’s the 80 word final:

Sporadic part-time teaching couldn’t support Gwendolyn Alley’s family when the economy threatened husband Marshall’s job of 25 years. A Women’s Conference scholarship allowed the mid-40s blogger to undergo Women’s Economic Ventures Self-Employment Training. When Marshall broke his C2 vertebrae, Gwendolyn nursed him to recovery while developing a business plan for The Write Alley to coach women in writing and social media. Elected class speaker, she graduated with honors. Although Gwendolyn recently lost her most important coach, her mother, she’s persevering.

Although I much prefer the last line in the previous draft, it was a few words longer and there was no where else to cut so I’m happy with it. Because of the assistance and feedback from my friends, I’m also confident about the message that it conveys about me and my business. It was a lot of work and took a lot of time to shape it, but in the long run, it will be worth it.

What do you need to do to set an agenda for your readers?

First and foremost, be as specific as possible.

Identify the audience and the purpose so your reader understands the context.

Let readers know what stage your draft is in:

–is it a rough or down draft where you’re just getting your ideas down and you need some direction and focus?

–is it still rough but you’ve fixed it up and you need some feedback on what needs to be developed more or you need a more catchy intro?

–is it almost down or a “dental” draft and you need someone to check every tooth and proofread carefully?

Ask them to tell you what is working–and what’s not.

Ask them what they’d like to know more about–and where they need less.

If you have specific questions, for example, is the intro engaging or cliche, or if a sentence is awkward but you can’t figure out how to fix it, ask them!

Finally, remember that reader response is a gift: you are giving your reader the gift of your words, trusting them, and setting an agenda for them so they can help you. Your reader is giving you a gift as well–the gift of their time, their expertise, their careful critique. Like any gift, you don’t have to keep it or use it.

Be graceful: if the writing is terrible, you can always find something nice to say about it. And if the response is not helpful, set it aside: you don’t have to use it.