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Jennifer looks at ways of communicating...
In my volunteer job, which sometimes seems like a full-time
job (without the salary), I often deal with budgets and finance issues. While
I’m intelligent, math is not my strong suit and I have to find ways of
understanding the numbers so that they make sense to me. I’ve taken to asking
people to give it to me “in English-major terms.”
People laugh, but really, they shouldn’t. Being able to
explain things in terms a variety of people will understand is a communication
skill that is essential for working with people. I am an English major and I’m
usually good at communicating. I even enjoy finding other ways of explaining
things to people so that they understand something—everyone learns different
ways and one method won’t necessarily work for everyone.
I think it’s a side benefit of being a writer. Every one of
us has a way of writing, our voice. But we also have to write in ways that are
true to our characters. Some characters are simple, others are complex. Some
characters need to sound male or female or refined or coarse. As the writer, we
have to be able to make those characters sound unique. We don’t want every
character to be a carbon copy of each other, or, heaven forbid, ourselves! And
that’s just for writing fiction.
In previous jobs, I had to write newspaper and magazine
articles, often about topics with which I wasn’t familiar. They required enough
research to not only understand the topic and to be able to ask intelligent
questions, but also to be able to translate that information into something my
readers would understand. The goal wasn’t to dumb down the information for
someone who had never heard it before, but to make the information relevant to
industry professionals.
A good writer can do that. And a good communicator needs to
be able to do that as well. So the next time someone says, “That’s not really
my area of expertise,” don’t think badly of that person. Rework how you explain
your information. It might actually benefit both of you.
I think being able to 'communicate' in different personas is the mark of a good author. I agree that characters shouldn't be carbon copies of each other, so they need to have unique traits, personalities, and dialogue (both internal and external). We get a feel for the character in everything they do and say...and it should be consistent and unique for each.
ReplyDeleteThat's true within books as well as between books. I don't want to read an author whose characters are always the same.
DeleteWith some of my characters, I 'get' them straight away; with others it takes me a while to 'find' them. But in the end they all develop their own personalities and I hope my readers find the characters in one book very different from those in another book.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I remember reading several books by a best-selling (and very prolific) American romance writer but got fed-up of them because all her characters seemed to be the same as the ones in the previous book, Her plots might have been good, but her characters were interchangeable cardboard cut-outs!
A long time ago, I read a bunch of books by a famous American author and realized that she was repeating scenes, word for word, throughout her books. I stopped reading her after that.
DeleteWonder if we were reading the same books, Jen? :-)
DeleteWas it Krentz?
DeleteNo, it was Danielle Steele. Don't think I've read any of Krentz.
DeleteShe has a team of writers that write her books. They're supposed to be cardboard cutouts of each other.
DeleteI didn't know that! No wonder 'she' can churn them out!
DeleteYep.
DeleteYou are so right, Jen. I am a avid cook (not a chef). I have had to train myself to write cooking directions so a person who doesn't know how to burn water can follow them-- and so the directions can fit on a package.
ReplyDeleteYup, different techniques for different things, Ana.
Delete