It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.
Rod SerlingRead
Whenever you write, whatever you write, never make the mistake of assuming the audience is any less intelligent than you are.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Respect your audience's intelligence when writing.
Rod Serling emphasizes the importance of treating your audience with respect by assuming they possess at least the same level of intelligence as you. This not only enhances the quality of your writing but also engages the readers more effectively, encouraging a thoughtful exchange of ideas rather than a condescending tone.
Themes
WritingAudienceIntelligenceRespectCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a writer's workshop to encourage participants to take their readers seriously.
More from Rod Serling
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It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms - all of them - may remain intact. And it is then that writing becomes a weapon of truth, an article of faith, an act of courage.
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Some people possess talent, others are possessed by it. When that happens, a talent becomes a curse.
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Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.
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Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible.
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