[Tipster] Give Your Readers Some Gold Coins

I have a fun-loving nephew who has an extreme form of ADHD.

At seven years old, he’s inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive.

 I tried once to watch a movie with him, but I gave up. He held the remote. He’d watch the first 30 seconds of the movie, rewind it a few frames, then fast forward, pause for another 20 seconds, and then fast forward it again. This went on until my eyes blurred.

He simply can’t focus.

I love him dearly, but I’m glad to be only his uncle.

His name is Henry, and Henry is a lot like the readers of your writing.

Inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive.

 The moment your readers feel the least bit bored, they will focus on the butterflies and start picking flowers. And turn on Netflix.

Gold Coins Along the Path

 One writing hack is to distribute a few gold coins along the way, especially in the middle of your writing.

In “Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer,” Roy Peter Clark references another writer (Don Fry) and his parable for keeping the attention of your readers:

“Imagine you are walking on a narrow path through a deep forest. You stroll a mile, and there at your feet you find a gold coin. You pick it up and put it in your pocket. You walk another mile, and, sure enough, you see another gold coin.”

Clark goes on to say, “What will you do next? You walk another mile in search of another coin, of course.”

Placing gold coins in your writing will help Henry, your ADHD reader, stay focused on the task at hand: reading your next sentence.

What Are Gold Coins?

Clark describes a gold coin as “any bit that rewards the reader.”

A “bit” might be some comic relief. It might be a startling fact. It might be a sizzling statistic.

Maybe it’s an anecdote from your first kiss your freshman year in the darkened weight room on a Saturday morning at the boarding school you attended.

 Gold coins are needed in the middle of your writing.

 Because it’s in the middle of the forest where your reader starts to wander.

Bright and Shiny

 So, here’s your assignment:

 Take one of your chapters. Or piece of longform that you are working on.

 Find the middle the chapter. The very middle of it.

And then add a gold coin.

Add a story. A statistic. A quote. An illustration.

In doing so, you’ve just helped Henry to stop messin’ with the remote and return his focus on what you’re writing.

Now, buckle up and write,

Dave Goetz

Cofounder

Journey Sixty6