Blogger: Mary Keeley
Our brain sensors are always taking in information. Experts say that every brain is wired differently. Imagine that. I don’t even know how to wire an electrical outlet. How well we process the information filtering through our brains depends, in large part, on how best we learn.
There are three learning styles: visual, auditory, and tactile. EducationPlanner.org explains them and offers suggestions to enhance learning for each style. You can read about them here. I’ll focus on visual learning in relation to writers and readers today because that is the largest 
group by far.
Visual learning
According to developmental molecular biologist, John Medina, in his New York Times bestseller, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, the majority of us learn and retain far more information through visual images than through reading text or hearing. Between 50 and 90 percent of us, depending on which expert data you read. No wonder editors look for authors who can quickly draw them into a novel’s setting and character conflict or who can make them care about the issue and promise of solution in a nonfiction book. They know those are the books readers devour and come back for more.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
Perhaps Ben was referring to visual learning.
It’s fair to assume from the data that the majority of your readers learn visually. So ask yourself: Are the setting and characters in my novel developed so vividly that readers will create visual images in their minds and become involved in the story? Will readers of my Christian living book be able to visualize the problem I address and become inspired to take action on my solution?
You might be too close to your manuscript to be objective, so ask critique partners and writer friends to respond to these same questions. Keep refining until you reach the goal. Readers love learning from the books they choose to read. When they can dive deeply into your book through visuals your words create in their minds, you will have succeeded in feeding your audience, and they’ll be hungry for more.
“He who learns but does not think is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.” – Confucius
Love learning.
However you learn best, adopt a teachable spirit and a positive, healthy attitude toward the process of improving your craft, doing tedious research, visiting publishers’ websites and industry blogs to stay current with publishing trends—whatever it is that you enjoy least about the writing life. Give yourself little rewards along the way. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and lattes come to mind. Surround yourself with a comfortable environment when you read that book on craft or undertake yet another revision. Get enough sleep. Anything that helps you, the author, to love learning will bear fruit in what you produce for your readers.
What is your learning style? What habits or environment or disciplines help you to learn better? What will readers learn from reading your book?
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I see the evidence everywhere that the majority of people learn by visual. The boom in YouTube videos for all sorts of teaching, the lack of user manuals for new gadgets or software.
My problem is that I learn better through reading text. I thrived at school, reading and absorbing text books and visiting the school library. Now in everyday life I am getting more and more stressed at the lack of written teaching information.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest. I worry, though, that I may not see what is needed to capture readers imagination at the offset. I am hoping my revised first chapters will work better as my beta readers told me I got better as the story went on. I got caught up in it and so did my readers, they had to keep reading.
Write to your strength, Chris. Those who share your learning style will be forever grateful.
*One of our boys is a tactile learner. He learned to read by tracing every word with his finger on sandpaper flashcards. Slow, but ultimately successful. As an adult, he still finds reading hard work.
*I write for people like him. I try to keep my blog posts to 100 words or less (today’s post is less than 30 words–two lines and a Bible verse). The bigger the thought in the fewer the words, the happier I am.
Chris, you may enjoy this snippet about written instructions…
* When the T-33 (the USAF’s first jet trainer) was introduced, it was one of the first service aircraft fitted with ejection seats, and the builders saw fit to put a placard with detailed instructions for ejection on the canopy frame (the frame that supported the glass bubble over the cockpit), in easy view of a pilot who found himself in extremis.
* The first command on the placard? “Jettison Canopy”.
Chris, the positive feedback you received from your readers should ease your mind because they are “seeing” your improvement. No doubt as you go back to revise the first chapters, those will grab future readers better too. As we preach often here, it’s so important to grab the reader into the story and characters in the first couple of chapters. The further refining is a good learning process in your craft.
MANY years ago, as a teacher, we were taught about the learning styles. It was helpful as a teacher to know how my students learned. 🙂 Many of my boys were tactile learners. Schools don’t always focus on this learning style. I have a boys who is an auditory learner, and one who is tactile. I am a very visual learner. And yes, when I can visualize the setting, the characters and what’s happening in the story, I’m drawn into the story.
*I learn through viewing things, but I also learn well by reading text. And when the environment is quiet, I focus much better than when there’s music or background noise.
*I think I tend to write visually. When I “enter” a scene, I can see the setting and I try to describe it as I walk my readers through the scene.
Jeanne, in your blog you set the scene beautifully, and you make the experience and the faith you have come vividly alive. I would recommend to anyone who has not visited to click on Jeanne’s name…and be ready for a feast, both literary and visual (she’s also a first-rate photographer).
* I hope it’s OK, having been privileged to read your fiction, that I say you do it there as well; that your scene-setting IS reality, and that your characters are more real than many people I have known who had bodies and heartbeats.
Thanks so much for your encouragements, Andrew. 🙂
Jeanne, your boys are blessed to have a mom-teacher who understands their individual learning styles when classroom teaching usually accommodates the majority visual learning style. And I’m so with you in being a visual learner with classical music playing softly in the background. Congratulations on “writing visually.” That’s a good way to describe taking readers into a scene.
I’m a visual learner. This year I researched paintings by artists of Easter. Thinking of Jesus’ sacrifice is so painful, and I tend to gloss over the pain and focus on the gift. But as I studied different artists’ interpretations, I went deeper into the sacrifice and pain. My appreciation grew, and I had an amazing Easter.
Thanks for sharing this post. I’ll work harder to paint my scenes to draw readers deeper into my stories.
Such a meaningful activity for Easter, Jackie. Why don’t you try to paint with words the emotions those paintings surged in your mind and heart while the visuals still are fresh. It will be excellent practice in growing your craft.
What a great idea! Thanks.
Interesting post, and the connection to how readers may see one’s work is very helpful indeed.
* I have no idea how I learn. As needed, I guess.
* One clue, perhaps unintended, to the way one’s brain is wired, may be gleaned from what one ‘sees’ in the picture that you, Mary, chose to accompany the essay. QUICK, now…what do you see?
* A heart? I’ll bet that’s the most common response, and it goes well with the ‘love learning’ title.
* But I saw two blades of a four-bladed marine propeller (as in, one that goes on a boat to make the boat go). I’m not different, just weird.
* As for Ben Franklin, I never much liked the first part of the quote. “Tell me and I’ll forget” may be realistic, but it also has a whiff of self-indulgence. You’ve got to develop every method of learning, and excuses are just losers’ whining justifications.
* A vignette…to those old enough to remember the Apollo 13 embarrassment, part of the problem the crew faced was a buildup pf carbon dioxide, and the fact that the scrubbers they had were mismatched to the fans available. A fix had to be described to them, in words, that would make use of the materials they had available. There was no fax, no way to send an image. They had to be told, and they had to get it right.
* My fiction WIP does assume the reader is willing to learn. It’s the story of a Marine tank crew in Viet Nam, and I’ve made the editorial decision to use service and Viet-Nam-era jargon and slang without explanation. “We zippoed the ville” is a mild example (and it’s something my protagonists wouldn’t do). I figure that the reader will either be involved enough to either figure it out from context, or look it up.
* The work’s being serialized weekly on my blog, and thus far the comments have been positive, with no complaints as to the slang/jargon thing.
* What do I hope readers learn? That war is in turns terrifying and exciting, fun and boring, and blends high spirits, pathos, and bathos. It is the ultimate obscenity that pulls from many the best they never thought they could be. It is not the worst thing we can endure, and for some it is the best.
Fascinating visual, Andrew: “two blades of a four-bladded marine propeller.” Not weird at all. Your brain sensors continue to be highly sensitive to your military life. This presents an added dimension to creating scenes visually that writers would do well be be aware of: Get to know your target readers well enough to predict the kind of visuals that will connect them to your book best.
Your choice of words and phrases in the last paragraph would change anyone’s mind that they don’t learn through text. Chills and images of reality and inspiration ran through me. Well done.
Oh my. I saw abuse of a good book……
I was just reminded of an interesting corollary to the subject…”learning to trust”.
* Barbara’s beloved and impertinent Rottweiler, MochaJava, is eighteen years old. She lost a hind leg years ago, and is still going strong, but walking is difficult.
* So we sling her under the belly, and that allows her to have the independence of using her forelegs while not falling over all the time.
* She has learned that (forgive me) to void her bladder, she best does it by swinging her remaining hind leg forward…which requires trusting the sling, and trusting whoever’s holding the sling.
* We couldn’t teach this, and what’s interesting is the independent learning on two fronts, both physical and spiritual.
You’ve given me much to think about today regarding how I learn. I suppose I’m mostly visual … I like to see an example. Like with a proposal … I want to “see” what agents consider a great proposal. But about learning, I’ve discovered that I learn what I want to learn … “want” is the key word. 🙂 And I love learning through passionate speakers. I grew up in church … but I never fell in love with God’s Word until I participated in my first Beth Moore Bible/video study in my later 20s. Wow, she made God’s Word come alive … because of her passion. Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” did the same for me, too. I had a teacher in college make history come alive for me because of her passion.
*What will readers learn from reading my fiction works? I hope they’ll learn a simple way to help other people. It’s like the articles I write … I’m always told to write my articles in a way that the reader will think–I can do that.
Shelli, reading your blog and your comments here are a master class in how to extend the hand of Jesus to others.
Shelli, you, too, have passion for your story and characters that will show up in your visual scene-setting and character development.
You touched on an important point. Writers who understand basics of how their target readers think can create visuals that are most effective in drawing them in.
Well, OK. No one’s trotted this one out yet, so I guess it’s up to me. I ask your pardon, but it has to be done…
* Some folks learn by bein’ told.
* Some folks learn by bein’ told.
* And some folks got to pee on the electric fence all by thesselves.
Ha ha! That’s the truth. Uh huh … I’ve had to learn the hard way, many a time. 🙂 One thing about it … you never forget. 😉 Some family members have an electric fence for their horses … it’s not real high, but it hurts. And my youngest touched her back on it. Oh boy. Her scream …! I almost touched it recently, while taking their 50th anniversary pics, but somehow thought to ask, “Is this on?” I almost braced myself on it. Oh, man. Whew.
What I described is actually something I’ve done, on a dare. I am one of those idiots for whom “I dare you1” is an irresistible challenge.
* And begging the question, “If someone dared you to jump off a cliff, would you?”
* Yes. I have.
I have often used the phrase “Can you please say that again?” Because when I’m under stress, the person speaking to me may as well be speaking in some unknown Indigenous language from Borneo.
Example: With #4, I went into labour 8 weeks early. The nurse was firing all kinds of critical information at me. Once she left the room, I turned to my friend and said “Okay, tell you what she just said!!”
If we’d have had flash cards? I’d have been fine.
Research trips? Did you know that the soil in Jamestown, New Mexico near the back of the Charles’s property is like brown icing sugar mixed with crushed oats. The wind smells like dried pinons with a hint of juniper.
Hand me that fact in a text book? Uhhhh. If there are numbers involved? Not gonna remember it. Pictures? Sure!
Jennifer, I often use the phrase, “I’m just not seeing it.” I’m sure I drive non-visual folks crazy.
I tend to say the same thing, Shirlee. 😉
LOL, Jennifer. Exactly. Here, here to us visual learners.
On learning…I hesitate to say this, because it says perhaps too much…but I think it may help another. So. The words.
* We must be open to learning. This morning I began reading a new book. “The Last British Dambuster”, by George “Johnnie” Johnson. It’s his memoir of service with 617 Squadron, and the Dams raid, but it’s also his life.
* In the first fifteen pages, I saw a portion of the hell of my own childhood reflected. And in that reflection, a measure of peace…”I am not alone”.
* My deep past is something I loathe, and do not want to face…but the only way to true learning is to confront the hard and vile things, and to move past them. Perhaps not with forgiveness…one is only human…but with resolve.
* I have today, and will damn well make it bright. That is the learning, and the legacy.
We so often hear how a bad start in life leads to a bad end. We need to hear more stories about people who made (or let God make) a good life out of a bad start. Don’t hesitate, Andrew. Shout it out–“There is HOPE! There is GRACE!”
Amen, Shirlee.
It’s a challenge to fit all my activities in the week, but giving myself a day of rest on Sunday fuels me with the energy I need to accomplish the most important tasks. Spending time with other writers at our monthly at ACFW meeting inspires me to dig deeper and learn more about the craft of writing so that I can create engaging stories. My desire is that readers will learn there’s always hope if we have a close, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
You are right, Shelia. Enough rest is so important to thinking and learning–and undervalued in today’s cultural pace. Rest was a common factor in the studies I researched for this post, yet I was focused on the visual learning, giving only minor mention to its importance. Thanks for bringing it to our discussion.
Your passion for drawing your readers to the hope there is in knowing Christ is a high calling, and you are up to the task.
Thank you for your encouragement.
Mary,
Thanks for this post. Some years ago I participated in a class for those who planned to tutor people. The class pointed out the different learning styles, but until this post I never considered the importance that information has for writers.
I’m mostly a visual learner and somewhat tactile. If I only hear things they don’t stay in my mind. I always take handwritten notes at workshops even though I seldom look at them again because writing things down helps me remember them.
My learning style is most definitely visual. I have learned more from visiting museums and reading plaques that accompany 3-D models/exhibits than from books. It’s about making a connection using more than one sense. While I thoroughly enjoy reading, interestingly enough I have a hard time remembering exact details of a story a while after reading it. For instance, I recall details from the film versions of Pride and Prejudice than I could recall from the book. Though I was profoundly impressed by the novel at a young age. My writing tends to have a heavy slant on physical descriptions. I desperately want to provide my readers with that visual experience, though I can only use words.
Hi Mary! I fully agree with you that every person learns differently, that is why some of them prefer to learn something new by reading, while other by listening or observing. I think it depends prom the person’s skills and abilities. Talking about my learning style, I also belong to visual learners, because I can process a necessary information best when I can see it rather than hear. It is very hard to perceive the information on hearing, I cannot remember it! But I am not upset because of it!
Thanks for sharing such an informative post here!