Blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Not long ago, I read a mildly interesting nonfiction book that promised more than it delivered and that derailed halfway through.
I could probably stop there. MILDLY interesting. Didn’t deliver. Derailed. Not what you want to see in a review. Not what readers are prone to linger over or recommend to their book-loving friends.
The book had potential, plenty of it. But what was the point? 
I knew what the author said was the point–according to the introduction. Despite a few bright spots worth noting along the journey, it didn’t take me where it indicated the book was headed. And the narrative limped along in places because the illustrative stories didn’t illustrate anything. They stood alone like random curiosities on a clearance table at a secondhand shop.
Rather than each element of the book–each chapter, scene, anecdote, conclusion–pointing to the book’s theme and reader takeaway (overtly or subtly), the elements seemed like puzzle pieces grabbed from different puzzle boxes. They didn’t fit together and couldn’t create a cohesive image.
You and I have likely read novels with the same issue. They leave the reader with an unsatisfied “What’s the point?”
Writing is communicating. If a reader reaches the last page of our book and isn’t sure what the book was about, or what conclusion the author urged the reader to draw, or how having read the book would enlighten, inspire, or inform, then we have failed to communicate.
What can cause our readers to miss the point?
Will your readers get the point if you clog the readers’ mental pathway with extraneous thoughts, stories, characters, facts?
Writers who communicate well clear the path for understanding.
Will your readers get the point if you lose your way somewhere between Page One and The End?
Can we trace an undercurrent of purposefulness throughout the manuscript? If a chair is in the room, why is it there? If an historical event is mentioned, why? What’s its connection or link?
Will your readers get the point if you spoon-feed your readers rather than equipping them with a spoon, fork, and knife, if necessary?
The reader will bring his or her baggage, experience, prejudices, judgments, wounds, and personality to the reading process. Good writing is aware of those hindrances to communication and guides the reader to feed themselves rather than forcing truth down their throats. You should, you ought, you must are methods that attempt to cram ideas into a tight-lipped mouth.
What else can cause our reader to miss the point?
If we don’t have one.
You set out to write a thriller set in New York in 1919. That’s it. That was your goal? Look again. There’s a point in there somewhere, or there should be. Is the point that 1919 was technologically and circumstantially different from 2019, but not so different emotionally or morally? Or is the point that this current “age of anxiety” is merely an updated version of past “ages” of anxiety? What does your story communicate?
Your memoir that shows your progress from immigrant to CEO is for what purpose? To show how clever and resilient you were? Or to encourage others to recognize the value of cleverness, resourcefulness, and resilience in their own life stories?
Good writers learn to evaluate every element of their storytelling–whether fiction or nonfiction–with this simple but communication altering question. “What’s the point?”
If the author can’t figure it out, no reader will. If the author is well aware, and uses that as a guide in the writing, readers will notice and be grateful, even if they disagree.
For those who might not have heard, Beth Vogt’s daughter, Katie Beth, is in the hospital with gall bladder trouble.
Please pray for her, and if you have a moment, drop in at Beth’s Facebook page with a kind and encouraging word.
https://www.facebook.com/beth.vogt
Cynthia, this is an excellent post – one to keep for reference. I often work with aspiring writers who contact me after a class or presentation, and I see all of the problems you described. This post will be a great resource to refer them to. Thank you for the specific discussion and examples.
Thanks for your comments, Karen. I’m glad these thoughts will be useful.
Great points, Cynthia. I’m developing the habit of checking for thematic elements when I’ve finished a book. When I’m in the weeds of writing, dealing with characters and plots, I have a tendency to forget there’s a point. Only when I’ve finished do I go back and ensure I’ve kept a cohesive theme throughout. I always have to add or change something.
And isn’t it interesting, Robin, that sometimes we discover to our surprise that other themes or sub-themes existed in the story…and we weren’t conscious of writing them in!
I strongly suspect that we have to understand the point – the narrative arc, if you will – of our own lives before we can elucidate thus for a character or concept.
The picture’s coming clear for me,
but I don’t like the final answer.
Dear God, could it really be
that I was made for cancer?
Did all my early jesting years,
a smile and pun when I awoke
ready me to face the fears
and dismiss my death as joke?
And did all the hard-won fights
with a foe and with my soul
build my strength to last the nights
and let day’s dawning see me whole?
If this is my life’s true purpose,
I’ll do my best, and give my service.
If I may ask all y’all’s prayers, there’s a tumour in my neck that’s rather painfully closing my throat, making speech and swallowing a challenge. The only way to gain relief is through the drining of ice-cold light beer…
…and the worst thing about this is, I have learned that you can get REALLY TIRED of cold beer.
Always insightful, Andrew.
Prayers, Andrew! I suspect part of the purpose is also your sharing with others. Your words make me think a lot. Thank you.
Mary Kay, thank you so much!
There are times when I think that sheer volume of work may be part of the point…since January 1, 2019 I’ve written a bit more than 220,000 words in my ‘Shakespearean Sonnet Word Document’. While this includes titles and a small amount of commentary on a few poems, it adds up to close to 2200 individual sonnets (and 85-90 words per each), virtually all written as blog post comments. I think I have become notorious.
But the point is that while a high word-count seems a steep hill to climb, it can go pretty fast (if Andrew can do this, ANYONE can!). Two hundred and twenty thousand words in a year is about six hundred per day.
If that’s my main contribution to the writing world, to point the way that goals are within closer reach than one might think, I’ll be satisfied.
Nearly a quarter MILLION words in a year. Andrew, you continue to stun me. And your comment is interesting to me in that I read your Dec. 30 sonnet to my husband. He remarked that I’d read him a couple over the year & he thinks they should be collected into a book.
God bless, my friend.
Cynthia, “What’s the point?” What a great question. You’ve got me thinking through my story and considering each scene to make sure there is a point to it being in the story. 🙂 The other thoughts you shared about even the nuances of what we include in our fiction/nonfiction words was so good.
I’m glad it matters to you, Jeanne.
You and I have likely read novels with the same issue. They leave the reader with an unsatisfied “What’s the point?”
Great reminders. I’ve purchased books only to discover this to be true, and wonder after how they happened to be published. Just to add, I was surprised to read this on a day when I was going over some theme(s), and considering what might be the strongest for my next story. Thank you Cynthia–and hope you all have a blessed New Year! Prayers for Beth, as well.
Great timing!
Thanks, Cynthia. Your thoughts and others’ comments give me another filter through which to run my stories! I wondered if it was all supposed to be clear before the writing began ~ but I see from comments that sometimes it’s unconscious, a God-thing, or honed after the first draft. Happy New Year, y’all.
Happy New Year to you, too! May it be FULL of good words!
This is a great reminder as I finish out my first quarter editorial calendar for 2020! I don’t want to write words and send them off into the abyss. I want there to be a POINT to it all. The last thing I want to do is waste a reader’s time. Thanks for reminding me to focus on this. Happy New Year!