Butch Cassidy's writing advice. (Masthead Symposium).Midway Midway, island group (2 sq mi/5.2 sq km), central Pacific, c.1,150 mi (1,850 km) NW of Honolulu, comprising Sand and Eastern islands with the surrounding atoll. Discovered by Americans in 1859, Midway was annexed in 1867. A cable station was opened in 1903. through "Butch Cassidy This article is about the criminal. For the singer with this pseudonym see Butch Cassidy (singer). Butch Cassidy (13 April 1866 - c. 1908), born Robert LeRoy Parker, was a notorious train and bank robber. and the Sundance Kid," Paul Newman's character delivers a classic bit of writing advice. It comes as Butch and Sundance merrily try to elude e·lude tr.v. e·lud·ed, e·lud·ing, e·ludes 1. To evade or escape from, as by daring, cleverness, or skill: The suspect continues to elude the police. 2. a posse as they have so many times before. But this time, the posse doesn't give up. No matter what the outlaws do, the posse keeps coming. Newman, as Butch, then asks, "Who ARE those guys?" It's a great movie line, but it's even better writing advice. "Who ARE those guys?" is exactly the right question we should ask about our readers. And we should ask it early and often. Readers can be just as baffling baf·fle tr.v. baf·fled, baf·fling, baf·fles 1. To frustrate or check (a person) as by confusing or perplexing; stymie. 2. To impede the force or movement of. n. 1. as that movie posse. The only trouble is, the roles are reversed. While Butch was trying to lose a posse that wouldn't give up on him, writers want the posse to stay on the trail and read the story all the way to the end. The standard advice about writing is golden: Know what you want to say Have a focus. Use clear and precise language. And marshal An English word that means to arrange into a particular order as a means of preparation. See data marshalling. your facts and arrange your thoughts, so you can present a logical argument to the readers. Writers should add one more step: Learn who is reading you and why. It's a simple step, but not an easy one. Readers don't approach a text equally. Some come prepared to like the writer, to drink in the argument and celebrate the writing. Others are hostile or indifferent INDIFFERENT. To have no bias nor partiality. 7 Conn. 229. A juror, an arbitrator, and a witness, ought to be indifferent, and when they are not so, they may be challenged. See 9 Conn. 42. . Some come to the piece knowing the background. Others are in the dark. With all of that going on it helps writers to start thinking systematically about the audience. For example, I advise news writers to ask six questions of every story: 1. What is the news? 2. What is new about it? 3. Why is it news? 4. Who is it news to? 5. Will they know it is news? 6. What will it take to get them to read it? Opinion writers should ask themselves the same questions. But we also need to remember that readers don't approach a text the way a driver with an empty gas tank drives to a pump. Readers won't sit around waiting for the writer to pop the gas cap and pump in whatever octane oc·tane n. 1. Any of various isomeric paraffin hydrocarbons with the formula C8H18, found in petroleum and used as a fuel and solvent. 2. An octane number. argument the writer has available. They read actively. Readers come equipped with arguments and theories of their own. They bring with them a background mixed with blends of information both accurate and inaccurate, commonsensical com·mon·sense adj. Having or exhibiting native good judgment: "commonsense scholarship on the foibles and oversights of a genius" Times Literary Supplement. and utterly preposterous. They constantly fight boredom Boredom See also Futility. Aldegonde, Lord St. bored nobleman, empty of pursuits. [Br. Lit.: Lothair] Baudelaire, Charles (1821–1867) French poet whose dissipated lifestyle led to inner despair. [Fr. Lit. and other distractions. Or, if the writer failed, they give up and move on to the next headline. Consider the way you read. Some writers make it hard on you, showing no consideration for your time or interest. Others make it easier for you. They show their appreciation for your time and your effort. If you and I read that way, why do we think the readers "out there" read any differently? Frank Smith, a Canadian expert on the reading process, said that in order for us to understand a reader we must ask what goes on behind the reader's eyes. A text, Smith said, must make a certain amount of sense to a reader, even if the reader has to do the sensemaking himself. The information is either visual or nonvisual. The text provides the visual information. Rarely will a text provide everything that is needed for that sensemaking. To have meaning even a stop sign requires some knowledge of traffic rules. The nonvisual information comes from behind the reader's eyes. It may come from the reader's background reading, from a shared culture, or from code words that spark emotionally charge interpretations. Baseball box scores illustrate the concept. One inch of six-point type tells the baseball fan more about the game than a writer can in a 20-inch story. The box score may not be as colorful as a top-flight writer's prose, but, overall, it is probably the most effective inch of type in the entire newspaper. All the reader needs is an intricate knowledge of the game and how to read its code. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , the reader needs a vast amount of non-visual information. Not only that, but the reader has to get it on his own. The newspaper doesn't bother to teach it. Consider how much text, or visible information, would be needed to explain the same game to someone who knew nothing about baseball. Okay, stop considering it. If the reader didn't care enough to learn about it in the first place, he's not going to wade through reams of background material to find out what happened in a routine game. Besides, the publisher wouldn't give you the space anyway. Think of what you bring to the newspaper stories you read. You can easily scan and retain details about a local burglary burglary, at common law, the breaking and entering of a dwelling house of another at night with the intent to commit a felony, whether the intent is carried out or not. because of the nonvisual information you have about crime and geography. But consider how difficult it is to take in the latest development on chemical hazards A chemical hazard arises from contamination with harmful or potentially harmful chemicals. Chemical hazards Chemicals have the ability to react when exposed to other chemicals or certain physical conditions. if you have no special background in chemistry. Without the necessary nonvisual information, the text is inadequate and you are baffled. Now switch back to your role as writer. Is your reader ready to read that editorial? Does he have what he needs behind his eyes? Do you know what he knows about the topic? You had better find out. You can start by using Butch Cassidy's writing advice. John Sweeney John Sweeney is the name of:
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