Alan Moore's best writing advice: Make your readers work

Hey,

this is yet another email about Alan Moore’s writing advice. There’s so much wisdom inside this man’s head that I could probably make fifty emails, but three emails are more than enough. For now.

One thing I remember reading him say somewhere (sorry, I don’t remember where, so I can’t quote the source) is that you should make your readers work.

He said that, obviously, if your work is too complex, you’ll lose a portion of your readers, but the ones who are left will enjoy the work more, and that’s because they will have made an effort to understand it.

Because we only value those things we’ve made an effort to obtain.

That’s how we are, human beings. And art is no different.

Too easy to understand, and maybe you’ll have a good time, maybe a laugh or two, and then you’ll forget it. You know, like so many of those TV series out there nowadays.

Too hard to understand, and you’ll get confused, maybe angry, and move on to something less of a headache.

But read From Hell and, oh, surprise, you’ve hit the sweet spot.

Yeah, it may be a bit too difficult for you if you’re not used to reading complex stuff, but the stuff inside it that’s too complex can also be understood with a bit of patience and a second or third read. Or even a bit of research.

And then, after having read and understood what a masterpiece From Hell is, aside from having enjoyed it immensely as the great story that it is, you’ll close the book with the feeling that the writer, this immensely talented and intelligent man, treated you with so much respect that he wrote what he wrote with the conviction that someone like you could be on the same intellectual level as he is.

And that’s much, much more than just enjoying a great story.

That’s something that stays with you, man.

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PS: The Flight of The Condor: The Sunday Strips, Volume 1. It collects the first 52 strips that I’ve been posting here every Sunday, plus several strips and a prose story that you won’t find anywhere else. Volume 2 will be out soon, so stay tuned.

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PS2: If you haven’t read Alan Moore’s From Hell, do yourself a favor and get a copy as soon as you can. The Condor can wait. Hell, everything else can wait.