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This link below is a self help for those writing a book. However one of the steps (and just changing a few of the words) can be applied to faneditors and this effect and step is something we all have been a victim of at one time or another. This info is very helpful to older (and especially) new faneditors alike-
main link:
http://litreactor.com/columns/5-ways-your-brain-sabotages-your-writing-and-what-to-do-about-it
[h=2]Curse Of Knowledge[/h] Your brain says: âReaders are going to understand everything in your story.â
The reality: Once you know something, itâs tough to remember what it was like not to know it.
Try this: Wander over to your office mate, captor, or barista and explain that you are going to knock on your desk to the rhythm of a song. Itâs their job to guess the song. Use âDonât Stop Believing,â âThriller,â or some other well-known song of your choosing. What do you think the odds are they will be able to identify the song? Try and report backâ¦
They didnât get it, did they? And you were sure they would. When this experiment was run in a more formal setting, only 3 out of 120 songs were guessed correctly, and the tappers were shocked. The song was playing so clearly in their heads that they couldnât imagine anyone missing it. Thatâs the Curse Of Knowledge (cue lightning and maniacal laughter).
As writers, itâs a cognitive bias worth watching for. Just because you recognize a reference, find something entertaining, or understand something about your plot or character, does not mean your reader will. If youâve got an outline of your novel and knowledge of future events, itâs easy to inadvertently write scenes that confuse readers who donât know as much about your story. The story in your head sounds like âThriller,â but to your readers, it sounds like random tapping. Try to avoid that.
Solutions:
main link:
http://litreactor.com/columns/5-ways-your-brain-sabotages-your-writing-and-what-to-do-about-it
[h=2]Curse Of Knowledge[/h] Your brain says: âReaders are going to understand everything in your story.â
The reality: Once you know something, itâs tough to remember what it was like not to know it.
They didnât get it, did they? And you were sure they would. When this experiment was run in a more formal setting, only 3 out of 120 songs were guessed correctly, and the tappers were shocked. The song was playing so clearly in their heads that they couldnât imagine anyone missing it. Thatâs the Curse Of Knowledge (cue lightning and maniacal laughter).
As writers, itâs a cognitive bias worth watching for. Just because you recognize a reference, find something entertaining, or understand something about your plot or character, does not mean your reader will. If youâve got an outline of your novel and knowledge of future events, itâs easy to inadvertently write scenes that confuse readers who donât know as much about your story. The story in your head sounds like âThriller,â but to your readers, it sounds like random tapping. Try to avoid that.
Solutions:
- Get a good editor or smart reader to give you honest feedback. When I started my novel, I had a giant Curse-Of-Knowledge-induced blind spot in early chapters. Fortunately, I was taking Christopher Bramâs novel-writing course here on LitReactor, and he pointed it out.
- Make sure the test reader isnât privy to the inner workings of your story. Another classmate, who had read my outline, noted that âChris is right, but having read your synopsis, my mind just filled that information in for me and I never noticed it was missing.â
