The platitude that scares away your readers
You have well integrated the basics for write professional documents with a solid framework: structure your content well, take care of your style, alternate language levels, etc. Well done ! But be careful not to neglect another crucial aspect: avoid flatness and monotony at all costs.
Your writing can be impeccable in terms of construction. If it is also mortally boring to read, all the effort will be in vain. Your readers will quickly tire of a uniform statement, without relief or anything to hook them. To avoid this terrible pitfall, you absolutely must breathe dynamism and liveliness into your writing. Here's how.
Vary the shapes
Rather than delivering all your information in a single demonstrative form, consider including different formats throughout your text. This will create welcome changes of pace that will engage the reader's attention.
Insert specific examples at regular intervals that will illustrate a particular point. Or short anecdotes, telling situations which will give a more lively materiality to your theoretical explanations.
Don't be afraid to punctuate your remarks with a few rhetorical questions directly addressed to the recipient. This is a great way to capture him by getting him more involved.
You can also, from time to time, dare to use a shocking formulation, a striking pictorial analogy, as long as it remains justified and accessible. A few unusual touches will help make an impression.
But be careful not to overdo it either. All this diversity of forms must remain measured and skillfully delivered, without forcing the note. A well-balanced alternation with the more academic phases.
Play with phrasing and registers
To add dynamism, you can also intervene on the phrasing itself and the language levels covered. Rather than a uniformly sustained flow, work on breaks and variations in rhythm.
Start by alternating the lengths of your sentences. Sprinkle a few more compact, almost staccato sequences in the middle of more fleshed-out developments. Don't stay in long sentences all the time.
You can also break the monotony of a single register by slightly varying the tones throughout the text. After a few very academic passages, opt for a little more natural phrasing, or occasionally some well-calibrated orality features. All without falling into excessive familiarity.
These frequent changes in the construction and tone of your statements will bring real dynamism which will keep the reader's attention alert.
Finally, don't hesitate to include a few more eye-catching elements here and there: shocking figures, striking quotes from experts, challenging questions. But always staying within a reasonable frequency.
Training and dosing direction
Of course, knowing how to use all these energizing techniques appropriately and accurately is not acquired overnight. This requires training time and regular practice.
In your first, more lively essays, it is very likely that certain breaking effects or punchlines will seem ill-advised or too forced. Keep calm, this is perfectly normal at first.
With perseverance, you will develop a more certain feeling about the appropriate moments to break the rhythm, the shapes to favor, the well-felt points without falling into excess, etc. Your range of processes for highlighting will gradually refine.
The main thing is to keep two things in mind:
- These techniques should only remain a seasoning and not become the rule. The basis must remain a quality, well-structured written expression.
- Always pay attention to the dosage and frequency of use of these invigorating elements. Having too much would be worse than having none. The reader must be able to breathe between each burst of dynamism.
Little by little, your sense of balance will be formed. And your writings will then be able to give their full effect thanks to this happy mixture of solid background and stimulating touches of relief!
