How bright are our readers?

[TarnishedPenny]

I like to think those reading my stories are more than merely literate. I'll use, for instance, words like 'susurration' when they are the best choice, not for effect but because they are the best choice for expressing what's happening. In one sense that's a compliment to the reader, yet I suppose it can also be a challenge.

I'm now working on a story in which two people in a threesome arrange a mirror by the bed so the third person can better see what's happening. The proper term for the mirror I have in mind is a 'cheval mirror'. I'm tempted to simply call it that rather than plod through something like 'a free-standing, full-length, swiveling floor mirror'. The details matter a bit as many floor mirrors simply stand there and cannot be adjusted in any way, which would defeat the intended purpose.

So, back to the original question. When you are writing, what assumptions do you make about your readers? How educated, how literate, how accepting do you see them?

 

[Lifestyle66]

I use a mirror prepping a scene in my chapter about a threesome.

"When I renovated our bathroom over a year ago, I had that old wall mirror to dispose of, and decided to make better use of it. I hung the three by five-foot mirror so we could watch ourselves in this bed. We both find it erotic to look at ourselves as she’s on her knees with me entering her from behind. Or she’ll pull her own knees up to her shoulders to better see me going into her as she lays on her back and looks at the mirror."

Feel free to use that idea. (And yes, I actually did hang that mirror for the wife and I to use.)

As for reader IQ, I like the Loving Wives category, so my expectations are rather low.

 

[SimonDoom]

I assume the reader is me, and I use vocabulary accordingly. But I don't think there's any hard and fast rule on this.

I had to look up "susurration." I didn't know what that was, and my guess is most readers won't know what this is when they read your story unless it's clear from the context. But I see nothing wrong with pushing readers a bit. You have a literate, intelligent style, and that's part of who you are as a writer. Embrace that.

 

[oggbashan]

Grammarly says I use 98% more unique words than other Grammarly users. I rarely have comments about the words I use. Perhaps those who might don't understand...

 

[Winter_Fare]

I like to think those reading my stories are more than merely literate. I'll use, for instance, words like 'susurration' when they are the best choice, not for effect but because they are the best choice for expressing what's happening. In one sense that's a compliment to the reader, yet I suppose it can also be a challenge.

I'm now working on a story in which two people in a threesome arrange a mirror by the bed so the third person can better see what's happening. The proper term for the mirror I have in mind is a 'cheval mirror'. I'm tempted to simply call it that rather than plod through something like 'a free-standing, full-length, swiveling floor mirror'. The details matter a bit as many floor mirrors simply stand there and cannot be adjusted in any way, which would defeat the intended purpose.

So, back to the original question. When you are writing, what assumptions do you make about your readers? How educated, how literate, how accepting do you see them?

Your readers self select. You will attract readers with similar levels of intellect to yourself if you use language naturally.

I make no assumptions, but I wouldn't use unusual words like cheval mirror and susurration without the context/description to demonstrate their meaning.

 

[oggbashan]

Your readers self select. You will attract readers with similar levels of intellect to yourself if you use language naturally.

I make no assumptions, but I wouldn't use unusual words like cheval mirror and susurration without the context/description to demonstrate their meaning.

Some comments I received admitted that they had to use Wikipedia to look up words or historical events I had referred to. At least one was from a prolific writer here.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I write stories I want to read. I use quite a range of vocab and also (the horror!) British English, which includes some Scots, Brummie and Irish English...

This is a comment on my most recent story which I think is totally fair - chapter 1 does have a long slow buildup: "I liked the story and felt it well written and descriptive. I think the long involved build up although interesting would likely deter a lot of readers esp those academically challenged."

That said, I'd never heard the term cheval mirror before today, and would call the offending item a free-standing tilting full-length mirror, if all those factors were important. Having had a quick look, it is the term used in both IKEA and Argos, so I guess it just proves I've never bought one. I do know the word susurration (thanks, Pterry!) but there was a phase when many authors seemed to overuse it and it became annoying once I started noticing it everywhere, so I generally don't.

I seem to collect a few new followers with each story, and they entertain me, so there we go. I try to make words clear from context, but sure my stories won't be an easy read if you're only familiar with one major English dialect.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Ugh.

I won't comment on other writers' readers, or the LW crowd in general. As for my Hammerheads, they're a decidedly variable lot. Many of them get my insanely obscure references and use of unusual words, but there are others who repeatedly message me to shout at me about having to engage parts of their brain other than their limbic system in order to get through my stories.

They've called me names and threatened to stop reading. So I put more ephemera and more obscurata in, and they hang on like grim death anyway, still reading and still threatening not to.

I'm not sure how representative my readers are of the Lit average. I can pretty much guarantee that they aren't incels or Nazis, since I excoriate and humiliate those two subspecies of subhmuman regularly.

But my readers seem to run the gamut from very literate to 'wut ar werds?'. I love them all anyway. My Hammerheads are my children.

 

[HectorBidon]

I wasn't familiar with the term "cheval mirror." But I'd think that in this case you could use the term and then describe the operation of the mirror well enough in context so that the reader got the idea without having to look it up.

 

[Comshaw]

I like to think those reading my stories are more than merely literate. I'll use, for instance, words like 'susurration' when they are the best choice, not for effect but because they are the best choice for expressing what's happening. In one sense that's a compliment to the reader, yet I suppose it can also be a challenge.

I'm now working on a story in which two people in a threesome arrange a mirror by the bed so the third person can better see what's happening. The proper term for the mirror I have in mind is a 'cheval mirror'. I'm tempted to simply call it that rather than plod through something like 'a free-standing, full-length, swiveling floor mirror'. The details matter a bit as many floor mirrors simply stand there and cannot be adjusted in any way, which would defeat the intended purpose.

So, back to the original question. When you are writing, what assumptions do you make about your readers? How educated, how literate, how accepting do you see them?

I have never really thought about how literate those who read my tales are. I guess I assume they will read it like I do, so I write it in that manner.

I've never had a comment about word choice, or my use of a ten dollar word when I use one. I have had comments that I could tell came from those who are well-educated, and those not so much, so I guess my readership is spread across the board.

Like you, I too try to find just the right word for the situation, but I don't go out of my way to sprinkle multi-syllable words into my story just because I can. My concept of my stories is I write them to entertain people, so everything I put into them should be to that aim, keep the reader immersed in the tale, keep them invested in the story. A few unknown words are fine, but using too many can be like a road with a multitude of speed bumps, after a while you just want to get the hell out of there. I write what I write, use what I think should be, and leave it at that.

As far as being a reader, I love running into words I don't know. Depending on how deeply I'm immersed in the story, I'll jot them down for later clarification or stop right then and look them up.

Comshaw

 

[yowser]

Never heard of a 'cheval' mirror. I don't think unusual vocabulary is a problem unless overdone or the reader gets the feeling that the writer is showing off.

'Mirrors and copulation are abominable, since they both multiply the numbers of men.'
Jorge Luis Borges

 

[Voboy]

One of my readers, an annoying anon, keeps posting comments to my SF series that predict my plan for the next chapter with uncanny accuracy.

I don't like that, not one bit. I want that dude to be a little less bright.

And I've never heard of a cheval mirror. If it mattered to the plot, I could easily look it up. I assume all my readers are consuming my content on some sort of internet-connected digital device, so looking things up on the fly is easy for them. So I don't worry about things like this.

 

[windar]

I have no idea here on Lit, because interactions on the story side are few and far between. Is an anonymous commenter smart or just being a wise ass?

On the site where I regularly post and know many of the readers very well, there are many who who are experts in history, science and linguistics. A few could not only tell you what a cheval mirror is, but why it's called that (I presume because it was used to check that you were properly attired in riding gear, since cheval is French for horse?). The last story my co-author and I did there , we included chapter notes for historical details that would have been too long to insert in the text without interruprting the narrative. People really appreciated them.

 

[Omenainen]

Well, my choice of words isn’t done based on the imagined audience. Being a non-native, my vocabulary when reading English is vastly broader than writing, and it also leads to what might be called self confidence issues. I want to describe something, a word pops into my head, and then I go “Does this really mean what I think it means? Is the tone of this right for the context? What if there is a more suitable word I just don’t know?” …which more often than not leads to taking the big words out again and expressing the thing in some other way. Suppose it makes my writing more accessible, but it is also deeply frustrating. I’ve been considering writing something in my own language, just to get to use all the fucking nuance that I want to.

 

[Omenainen]

Oh, and also I guess what I’m saying is don’t worry about non native readers. Anyone who masters a foreign language enough to read stories with it can read around words they don’t know.

 

[oggbashan]

I have had a few comments from people reading English as a foreign language that they appreciate my stories because I widen their vocabulary and my stories can be like some of the more difficult texts they have studied.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Thanks all for the feedback.

I might mention grinning widely when I read KQ’s statement that she’d actually checked the term. Hugs for that, truly - my world would’ve been set on its head had not one of the regulars done so.

 

[lovecraft68]

I keep my writing very simple and have received a lot of comments saying I have an easy style, one person said it reminds them of relaxing in a favorite chair, I use every day language and don't complicate things with purple prose or $10 words. I know the word TP used, but I have to say if I saw it in the middle of a smut story I'd think "that's a little pretentious" but as she said if its the right word, then so it is, that's her style. I'd rather not give the reader speedbumps to take them out of a story.

I do enough of that with grammar mistakes.

 

[MsNatalie99]

Your readers self select. You will attract readers with similar levels of intellect to yourself if you use language naturally.

I make no assumptions, but I wouldn't use unusual words like cheval mirror and susurration without the context/description to demonstrate their meaning.

I'd agree with this to an extent. I've read and been entertained by stories with far simpler english than I'd choose. However, the same can be said for stories using more sophisticated language. I may not always know the definition of a word used, but if the writer uses it clearly within a chosen context, I'll usually figure it out. A story which is well crafted and engauging can easily encourage me to take the time to crack open a dictionary/google in order to expand my vocabulary. Some feel the same, others differently, but I think this is how you will know your audience is truely yours.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I also try to keep any obscure words out of my stories. If I'm reading and come across a word I've never seen before, I'll normally look it up. But I wouldn't enjoy having to do it too many times. It would definitely interrupt the flow of a story. Still, if the word works, I'd use it.

 

[jehoram]

I wasn't familiar with the term "cheval mirror." But I'd think that in this case you could use the term and then describe the operation of the mirror well enough in context so that the reader got the idea without having to look it up.

I think that's what I would do. Some description like "He angled the mirror on its stand so that..."

 

[KeithD]

I think it's fine to use a term like "cheval mirror," assuming the meaning can be found on an Internet search. If its functioning was going to be used in the story, though, I would explain how the function worked at the point at which it was employed.

 

[AlexBailey]

I like reading and writing SAT words. I learned the term susurration while reading Dean Koontz novels. The trick is to put in enough context that a reader can make a reasonable assumption.


----
We lay there exhausted, stippled in sweat, fading off to sleep to the susurration of the distant ocean waves.

----

She felt shy trying on the gifted lingerie. She stood before the mahogany-framed cheval mirror and adjusted the brass knobs so she could see her full reflection.

---

Readers might not be able to come up with a Webster worthy definition but I suspect they will be able to stay with the story. I love reading authors who broaden my horizons.

 

[TheRedChamber]

First of all, I don't think bright is exactly the word to use regarding your examples. If you polled a hundred PhD physicists regarding a cheval mirror, well, I don't know but I'm guessing a lot of them wouldn't know what one was. It's one of those things that you can live you whole life without ever coming across. And of course, while I now know what a cheval mirror is, I will always have learnt it from a smutty website - knowing doesn't exactly make me brighter, it's just another particular piece of trivia. Obviously, some people just have a larger vocabulary that others and they're often viciferous readers, but there comes a point where it's more about the interests and life-experiences a person has.

I do know the word susurration (thanks, Pterry!)

Came to post this - unfortunately, while I do now know this word due to Pratchett drawing particular attention to it, it is also now inherently an amusing word and it's use in a passage is likely to have the opposite of the intended effect on me.

On this website, I'm sure there are a hugely wide range of readers - probably more than most average websites and I suspect it varies from semi-literate all the way to professors of English literature. This website caters to particulary fantasies that aren't available in other types of porn and that probably draws people who never usually reads. Obviously, having read some of the comments left on stories, we all know there are some dumb people around, and having been on this forum, there are also some very smart ones. All human life is here, I suspect.

I tend not to use overly flowery words - in my life I've been both a computer programmer and an Academic English teacher and both professions tend to value the readability of something over how clever it is. I'm also not really sure I'd ever use susurration in my writing because I don't see the benefit of using it over 'whispering sound' or 'murmur' or whatever, but then I've never been of a particularly poetical bent.

I'm now working on a story in which two people in a threesome arrange a mirror by the bed so the third person can better see what's happening. The proper term for the mirror I have in mind is a 'cheval mirror'. I'm tempted to simply call it that rather than plod through something like 'a free-standing, full-length, swiveling floor mirror'. The details matter a bit as many floor mirrors simply stand there and cannot be adjusted in any way, which would defeat the intended purpose.

Given that it seems like the chevaliness of the mirror is important to the story it's probably better to work in the description to make sure it is clear in the readers mind. It would only need one sentence that could be worked into the story naturally enough (I assume).

He'd bought a large cheval mirror specifically so he could move and angle it exactly as required for the best view.

Then you can use cheval mirror naturally after that if you want (although presumably 'the mirror' would work just as well afterward. I tend to think that a writer's job is always to help the readers rather than expect them to keep up, but it's often better to build in context clues if you think a word might confuse people rather than stop to explain it, which may annoy people who do know what it is.

 

[windar]

There are quite a lot of cheval mirrors listed on Wayfair, which is far from an esoteric site, so perhaps the term is better known than one would think.