The language of experts and educators couldn’t be more different from the kind of writing that connects with the wider world.

Whether you’re emerging from university or siloed in a particular industry, those differences may not seem like much of a problem… until almost no one engages with your work.

What sets academic writing apart is its built-in audience: people normally read dissertations and research papers because “peer-reviewed” work is considered part of the job.

This has a big effect on the style of writing. Since you’re speaking to a specialist audience that knows as much (if not more) than you, there’s a level of assumed ‘insider’ knowledge present.

The other consequence of a guaranteed audience is that you can take as long as you like to articulate an idea. You can take their attention for granted.

This won’t work in the wider world. We’re all inundated with things vying for our attention, so if we choose to read something… it needs to hook us in immediately and hold our interest.

Imagine your reader taking a bus or a train home from work. Your ultimate goal is to have them so engrossed in your writing, so captivated by what you’re saying, that they miss their stop.

The key to pulling this off is clarity. Clarity is the antidote to confusion. Anything that causes the reader to pause and think “Wait, what?” is like having a roadblock in your writing.

Repetition is another enemy of accessible writing. It makes us switch off and lose interest. Clichès have the same effect: when our brain knows what words are coming, it skips ahead.

Now that we’ve identified the subtle things that make writing inaccessible, let’s turn our focus to what gives readers the most compelling experience possible.