readers brain
TRANSCRIPT
Writing is
Writing is
hard
Writing is
difficult
Writing is
demanding
Writing is
damned difficult
Writing is
terrifying
Writing is
excruciating
Writing is
a mystery
Writing is
a science, not an art
But first
you must write for your reader’s brain
Reading and writing by the numbers
$3.1 billion
amount American companies spend annually
to improve employees’ writing
Writing is
the skill with the biggest gap between what
employers want and what candidates offer.
3
Challenges your reader’s brain faces in every
sentence
3 Stages of reading
Lexical = Identify WordsSyntactic = Understand
MeaningInferential = Make Sense
of Content
Write for your reader’s brain
Use familiar words, phrases, and sentence
structures…
Write for your reader’s brain
…so your readers move through the three stages
easily.
Reading and writing by the numbers
300 milliseconds needed to identify a word
Write for your reader’s brain
Avoid using pronouns like this, that, these, those,
and it …
Write for your reader’s brain
….which send your reader backwards to assess
meaning
Reading and writing by the numbers
6 decades of studies on our
brain’s bias toward perceiving causation
Reading and writing by the numbers
6 months
age at which infants first perceive causation
Write for your reader’s brain
Make sentences into micro-narratives.
Write for your reader’s brain
Use an actor as your subject, followed by action
verb.
Reading and writing by the numbers
33%Frequency with which readers
agreed that The dog was bitten by the man was a
plausible sentence…
Reading and writing by the numbers
33%….due to passive
construction.
Reading and writing by the numbers
0%Frequency with which readers agreed that The man bit the
dog was a plausible sentence…
Reading and writing by the numbers
0%…due to active construction.
Write for your reader’s brain
Avoid using passive construction.
Write for your reader’s brain
To check if a sentence is passive, insert by zombies after the verb.
Write for your reader’s brain
If the sentence makes sense with zombies in it, you’re dead. (The sentence is passive).
Reading and writing by the numbers
225 words per minuteSpeed used for close
reading.
Reading and writing by the numbers
500-700 words per minute
Speed used for skimming.
Reading and writing by the numbers
Equal: Accuracy of recall between
skimmers and close readers
Write for your reader’s brain
Place overview sentences of paragraphs at the
beginning of paragraphs…
Write for your reader’s brain
…where readers expect to see them.
Reading and writing by the numbers
100% Agreement among judges
scoring essays…
Reading and writing by the numbers
100% …when writers introduced overview sentences at the beginnings of paragraphs
Reading and writing by the numbers
10% Agreement among judges
scoring essays…
Reading and writing by the numbers
10% …when writers used no
overview sentences
Write for your reader’s brain
Position thesis sentences at the end of your introductory
paragraphs…
Write for your reader’s brain
…where readers expect to see them.
Reading and writing by the numbers
25-30%Content in lists readers
remember—at the ends of lists.
Write for your reader’s brain
Put your most important items last, not first, in
lists…
Write for your reader’s brain
You’re using emphasis from the recency effect to get
better recall.
Reading and writing by the numbers
7 ± 2Number of items readers can
hold in working memory.
Write for your reader’s brain
Limit the number of items in lists to 7 for bulleted or
numbered lists.
Write for your reader’s brain
Use only 5 or fewer items in lists within sentences.
Reading and writing by the numbers
6 Parts of the brain involved in “hearing” written language.
Reading and writing by the numbers
arcuate fasciculusangular gyrusBroca’s areacerebellum, supplementary motor area, Wernicke’s area
Write for your reader’s brain
Readers “hear” writing in your sentence structure
and length.
Write for your reader’s brain
Variety in both makes your writing sound more
sophisticated and polished—and seem more
pleasurable to read.
For more on the science
behind writing
www.readersbrain.comwww.readersbrain.co.uk
Twitter: @neurosciwrite
Facebook: readersbrain
Available from Cambridge University Press,
Summer 2015
Music under license to ASCAP