Creating Value for Readers. How Writers write, and create or destroy Value

Why do you read? To enjoy, to be entertained, to reduce boredom, to increase awareness, to learn, to be educated, to increase your knowledge, to be stimulated, to become smarter by delving into mysteries, possible and innovative solutions etc.

In this article I will focus on why people write, and that may also shed light on why you read.

The thinking on this article started when I was watching a movie and fast forwarding and skipping sections. My daughter-in-law who is a journalist asked me why I was skipping sections. You might miss something important, she said.

I know this and yet I do it. There are other movies such as She Said, and the Bank of Dave and Kathal and My Name is Vendetta where I hardly skipped scenes. Why? Did these movies address my needs, and were interesting enough to limit skipping. And I am sure others enjoyed without skipping movies whose sections I skipped. I skip because the scenes might be trite trivial, common to past movies and of no interest to me.

All this got me thinking: Why do I write articles and books?

I spend time in wondering what would be interesting for readers to read. And I realise that there are so many readers I have. Some may not even read the article. Others may have more expertise than me on the subject, yet others little interest or even less time to read.

Apart from figuring out what would be interesting, I spend time thinking about my offering. How will it add value to the readers? Will they learn something, or will I present a different angle or point of view? How do I tell them the value the piece can add to them or a company or society? How long should it be to maintain the reader’s attention? Will it be easy to read?

I tend to write rather short articles, being cognisant of my time and the reader’s. I do not go into too much detail. I try to ask questions the reader may have and answer them, and also answer some questions they might not have thought of.

All this thinking takes days. The actual writing of the first draft may take 15 or 20 minutes. Cleaning and modifying the draft up may take a few more days of elapsed time (not writing time).

I realise my readership is mixed with mixed interests. A few may read my latest book, Creating Value for Leaders from cover to cover, some may read parts of it, some will learn worthwhile lessons from it, and use it for furthering their careers and becoming better managers. Some will have no time for reading and miss a possible value creating opportunity for themselves. Some may read sections every day. Some may read sections at random, and yet gain value.

But first the reader has to buy the book or access it. How much would it cost to access it? How much time does he have? How does he think this will benefit him? Make him smarter, more aware, make him learn something new, make him think, make him explore different ways for doing things, make hm exercise his mind, make him better at what he does, make him think of things he does not think about and focus on them like creating value for his family or society, or looking at creating value for himself, make society a profit centre rather than a cost centre, and that more value is created for him when he creates value for others.

Value is the cost (of accessing the book, and the time and effort of reading) versus the perceived benefits of reading the book.

I then turn to thinking of other writers.

Some write to show they are smart; they know more than you or to present a different angle. Others educate you and relate to you, like Francesca Mari’s article on Housing in the New York Times. I learnt a lot. Some write to let out steam and to show how smart they are (and their knowhow), others to make money, some to share experiences, knowledge and ideas, yet others to entertain, and some to create suspense (often writers attract you with a title and do not get to the point right away to capture your reading time). Examples of this are in web-based news to attract you to read on topics they think you will read. So, the title may be new trains in India, and three fourths of the article is about trains, and only one paragraph at the end about new trains. Often, I stop reading the article because it does not make its point fast enough.

Other authors add detail, some which I can find fascinating, such as in Hemingway’s Travels with Charlie, and others that I find meaningless and boring.

I wonder if style and substance make people buy. Some writers combine both, whereas others rely on one or the other.

As I said genre is important. The great divide between literary fiction and fiction. Why can’t there be literary content in pulp fiction and pulp fiction content in literary fiction? This can happen, for example, when an artistic movie is made out of a routine plot.

Christine Seifert in HBR says reading literary fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind, and critical thinking. When we read, we hone and strengthen several different cognitive muscles, so to speak, that are the root of the EQ (Emotional Quotient). A good reason to write and read.

Fiction can improve our imagination and thinking process. It might take us elsewhere, into different worlds, different challenges, innovative thinking and solutions.

Both types of fiction make you flexible, more intuitive, more open to different ideas, even though fiction is plot driven and literary fiction is character and language driven.

I started thinking the best writers first understand your needs and questions. What will the genre of the book do for you or should do for you: excite you, titillate you, fascinate you, captivate you, educate you, relate to you?

Some people write to show they can write, the longer the better. For me the shorter the better because less time. Less chance to skip.

Think of reading a newspaper or selecting a book.

You may read only portions of the newspaper. On an article you may read sub headlines, and maybe on one or more read the entire article or parts of it because of time, interest, or wanting to know only key points and not all details. You may never remember all the details.

Why do you write? How do you add value and to whom and how. And why do you read? Will value be added to you, and make you more whole?

I made this short so that you would not skip sections. How would I attract those that did not read? Ignore them? Look for them? Segment them for further action? Should everyone read everything? Of course not.

I look forward to learning from you, readers and writers, and adding value for me.

Best,

Gautam Mahajan, President, Customer Value Foundation
Founder Editor, Journal of Creating Value jcv.sagepub.com
New Delhi 110065 +91 98100 60368
mahajan@customervaluefoundation.com
http://www.customervaluefoundation.com
Twitter @ValueCreationJ
Blogs: https://customervaluefoundation.wordpress.com/
Author of Value Creation, Total Customer Value Management, Customer Value Investment, How Creating Customer Value Makes you a Great Executive, The Value Imperative, Value Dominant Logic, Customer Value Starvation can Kill

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