Writing Bug - Am I a pest?

Lately it seems that I've caught a bug -- the writing bug. I was recently asked to write a short paper for church leadership on the Genesis 1-2 "origins debate". There has been quite a bit of research associated with this project, and with good reason: there is a prolific number of scholarly treatments on the topic. Now it isn't like I need to add to the choir. Yet as I started the paper, I found I missed the process of doing research papers. The fact that my introduction exceeded six hundred fifty words showed that I have rediscovered a passion.

My difficulty lies in keeping what I write accessible...err, easy to read. I don't intend to write with big words as though I'm some erudite...err, well-read smarty pants. Yet the words just flow out, which often shows my writing to be more elusive for the majority of readers out there. Indeed, I would much prefer to produce perspicuous...err, clearly understood text that benefits more people. I really don't set out to impress people -- at least I don't think so. Perhaps I have a blind spot here. If so, I ask forgiveness from those who see me as their friend.

I realize I need to keep sentences shorter. After all, inserting several commas in a thought, noting that multiple clauses in a sentence, in which confusion might emerge, is a fairly outdated mode of discourse (or should I say writing?), which no doubt loses the readers' attention in this fast-paced, video-driven culture, by which finally the reader has long since given up gleaning anything useful. See my point?

In watching a recent video lecture by Dr. John H. Walton (Wheaton College), I learned about communicating in "high context" and "low context" settings. A high context setting is where the author and reader share many things and explanations are not needed. For instance, when talking to a computer technician, I do not need to explain how layer 1 works in the OSI networking model. They should generally grasp that it is the physical layer. However, in a low context setting, I would have to explain that it's the connection via an Ethernet cable or wireless signal that is the foundation for establishing a working network. In the context of my Genesis research, the ancient Israelites would have a shared history, culture, and language and no explanations were needed. We live many thousands of years later. Not only do we need translations of the language, but also of the cultural situation that shapes their very thought life. Of course, this is an example of hermeneutics (something I will post on in future writings).

The take-away for me is simple: I need to do a better job of knowing when a target audience for me is in high context or low. There's very little to be gained for writing myriad...err, a lot of words if no one values from the experience.