The Dos and Don'ts of Dumbing Down

I’ve had a number of writers ask me if they should dumb down their writing for their readers. Though these writers generally write for small children and teenagers, the question is relevant for all writers.

To answer this question, I could easily say, no don’t ever dumb down, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. So, I’ve compiled a short list of dos and don’ts:

DO treat your readers as you would yourself: with respect. Dumbing down your writing can across as condescending and patronising.

DON’T use words that show how smart you are. Use ones that are right. This will sometimes mean the simpler words are more fitting.

DO give your readers some credit. They are intelligent human beings. They don’t need everything explained to them.

DON’T go for simplicity for simplicity’s sake.

DO try to keep your writing consistent. If your style is simple, then throwing in a big word will only draw attention to that big word.

DON’T dumb down your language so far that you lose the essence of your meaning.

DO know your audience, your market. Use words your audience will relate and respond to.

Can you think of other dos and don’ts? Do you change your writing style for a target readership?

Writing for Children

On the weekend I attended a writing festival in my local area. The first speaker was a successful Australian author of children’s books: Deborah Abela. She has been writing for children for 17 years. Below are some tips she shared:

1. If you want to write for kids then you need to be around kids. Run workshops for them, go to their schools, learn what they are reading, what they like, how they think.

2. Never write a book for children with the intention to teach them something. In other words, don’t lecture them and don’t be condescending. She had a great way of saying it: “Write as if you were looking them in the eye.”

3. Kids books need to be kid focussed. They should be about kids with the kids finding the solutions to their problems. Adults should remain peripheral to the story.

4. Kids like pace. You need to cull anything in your story that doesn’t drive the plot forward.

5. The book needs to start with a hook otherwise the kids won’t read past the first page.

6. Stay away from fads of language because it only dates your book. What the kids are saying now may not be how they say it when your book is published.

Deborah offered many more great tips for writing which you might see in another post.

Can you think of other tips that might be helpful to anyone wanting to write for children?