The Lesson of Niche Lingo:
Keeping Your Writing Simple

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

An online devotional for writers

A Word From The Word

If I don’t understand a language, I will (appear to) be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will (appear to) be a foreigner to me. (1 Corinthians 14:11, NLT)

A Word For Writers

How an orchestra rehearsal taught me a valuable lesson about keeping your writing simple.

The conductor glared at me. “Make sure the minim is held its full length – not the length of a crotchet,” he yelled. 

Huh? My blank stare communicated confusion. I spoke English, but I had no idea what the maestro was telling me.

I felt humiliated.

More than a dozen years in the classical music world gave me an easy familiarity with its niche lingo. But in this instance, I was an American playing in a British orchestra. The Brits, as I came to find out, used different musical terms than we do across the pond. Even in the close-knit world of classical music, the conductor’s words transformed me from an insider into an outsider. 

Fortunately, when my stand partner pointed to a note on the page, I discovered that a “minim” is the British term for what Americans call a half note and a “crotchet” is their word for what Americans call a quarter note.

Niche lingo can be a problem for me as a writer. At issue are not the terms themselves, but their isolating effect on the reader. She becomes a humiliated outsider. 

I don’t want to write that way. So by keeping my writing simple and eliminating specialty jargon, I can avoid that problem.

Over time, my British colleagues came to look affectionately at my Yankee language limitations. And I became adept at polite requests for clarification.

But I never forgot the lesson of niche lingo: use it only if you must, or you risk alienating your audience.

A Wise Word

Use lingo only if you must, or you risk alienating your audience.

A Word To Pray

Loving Father,

Keep me from alienating my readers. Show me how to keep my writing simple and accessible so they can understand my point.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

---

More Devotionals for Writers

The Comparative: Great, Greater, Greatest Give Clarity ...

The Superlative: Don’t Resort to Them As an Excuse  ...

The Pencil: God Sharpens the Ones He Uses ...

The Email Lists: Paul Wrote Mass Messages, Too ...

The Project Specialty: 3 Bible Guys. 3 Kinds of Content Writing Projects ...

The Strategic Plan: Write It Down, Get More Done ...

The Niche: Can a Sci-Fi Writer Teach Me about the Christian Market?

The Profile Article: A Feature Article with a Twist ...

The Yellow Pencil Chart: Translate Features Into Benefits ...

Six Words: The Case for Clear Headlines and Ad Copy...

The Fact Check: Truth Is a Powerful Writing Tool ...

Word Count: It's a Good Reason to Quite Babbling ...

One Word: Does Word Choice Make a Difference?

Two Words: Which of Them Should I Use?

Waste Not Your Words: One of the Most Effective Content Writing Tips ...

Writing for Free ...

More Devotionals for Writers on our Pinterest Board ...

Wise Words: Devotionals for Writers ...

Get more devotionals for writers delivered to your inbox each week.

Return from The Lesson of Niche Lingo to Nonprofit Copywriter home

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Powered by SBI! Learn more here.