Over Explainer

I am not insecure about my writing, but I do tend to explain things that I feel my readers will have trouble grasping.  This is usually done by incorporating parentheses, those round brackets “( )” after the word in question and explaining it there.  I don’t feel the need to explain every item in detail, as if the reader needs that much help, then they probably should not be reading my post.  I don’t want to make my posts like a school lesson where I repeat myself over and over trying to drive my point home, but I don’t see a problem with adding relevant information.  I am not big on links, as if I added links, that would take my readers away from my blog and I don’t see the point in writing, just to send my readers away.

I want my readers to get what I am throwing down and I feel that I am very good at explaining things and at times I may even over explain some stuff, but I am not doing this to waste their time.  I see so many bloggers who respond to a prompt and they feel the need to list all of the rules associated with this writing challenge and I see that as a serious waste of time.  Maybe they are looking for higher word counts in their posts, but I only include information in my posts that I feel people need to know and these rules can be found elsewhere.  It is not necessary to explain everything, as this surely will lead to your readers becoming bored.  I don’t want to talk down to my readers and have them feel that I am better than they are, but if I feel that they may not know something, a short explanation wouldn’t hurt.

I write long posts and my friend Fandango always tells me that I should cut back on my word count and he is probably correct, but I enjoy writing and I love explaining things.  If I am going to start investigating something, I am only going to do it once, so I have a tendency to go all out, as tomorrow will be a new day and I will be on to something else.  I am not adding extra words, I am only putting in information that I feel is important to make my point.  I understand what TMI is and I hope that my posts never reach that point, although I am sure that a few already have.

Written for Blogging Insights by Dr. Tanya who’s question today is, “When you use a word/term that you think your readers might not know do you think you should add a link to it, or is it a better idea to let people find out on their own?”