On Casual Language, Part 2: Unnecessary Commentary

Another, related, way that authors write too casually is when they decide to address the reader directly. But part of the unwritten agreement between the author and the reader is that the reader knows the author is speaking to them. That’s a given. Indeed, an intrinsic property of books—almost their defining quality—is their ability to make the reader a direct witness to the mind of the author. 

Anyone who reads knows this experience; this idea has been expressed countless way by those who love to read. As Joyce Carol Oates put it, “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” Or, in Carl Sagan’s words, “One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.” Roald Dahl stated this idea rather bluntly, “The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.”

Thus, there is no excuse for the following to appear in any finished piece of writing.

• “Dear reader…”

• “I forgot to tell you…”

• “I kid you not…”

• "You will love this…”

• “Okay you guys…”

• “Don’t [you] forget…”

• “You. Will. Never. Believe. This!!!…”

In each of the examples above, the “you” is the reader. Indeed, each of these examples amount to a shibboleth, or a sign, that an unnecessary “commentary” on the text is about to ensue.