One in a series of writing tips.
I’m good with names. But introduce me to nine people in my first minute at a party and I’m lost. My memory turns to goo.
I’m sorry, who are you again?
Readers are no different. They get memory goo when a writer – the party host – drops them into a crowd of strangers.
And for readers, strangers are the people and organizations they meet in the text, usually as proper names: Bobby Bob Bobbleblob, Suzie Salty Seashore, the Apostrophe Protection Society.
Readers slot proper names into a mental map. But the map doesn’t plop fully formed into their minds. They build it as they read each sentence.
Who’s this person? And, now, this one? What’s this organization? How’re they all connected? Who’s done what to whom? And why?
Like a gracious host, careful writers help readers build the map. They avoid creating proper name mishmash.
Here’s how: they ease names into text – usually one per sentence or paragraph and seldom more than two.
Be a good party host. Let readers spend a sentence or few with each “guest” before introducing more.
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