When writing (or recording a video, or a podcast), there’s a fine balance between being informative and treating your readers like they’re dumb. This is something I struggle with a lot.
If I’m talking about something like my move to Obsidian, I try to balance the “here is what I’m doing with Obsidian” along with the “here is what Obsidian actually is”. This is where having content that is more focused can be helpful, as you’ll have a better feel for the education level of your audience on any given topic. Since I tend to bounce around across many different topics, I’m often not sure where that level is.
In her book “Everybody Writes“, Ann Hadley puts it this way:
“Assume the reader knows nothing. But don’t assume the reader is stupid.”
I’m confident that everyone reading this is intelligent. You, the one reading this sentence, could certainly teach me many things that I’m uneducated about. That’s not even a question. The question is more about your depth of knowledge on the particular topic that I’m writing about on any given day.
The challenge becomes the balance, and I don’t think there’s a good answer. I’ll continue to assume everyone reading this is smart, but I’ll also assume that I’m digging up some random concepts and tools that might be unfamiliar, and I’ll work to strike a nice balance.
If I ever miss the mark badly, please let me know.
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