What Does Context Mean In Writing

Why Context Matters In Writing

Building a relationship with the reader

If I could only tell you one reason why context matters, it would be the relationship created between the writer and the reader. Whether you're writing fiction or non-fiction, context is a practical tool that will help you build meaning, trust, and interest for the reader.

"Content is king, but context is God." — Gary Vaynerchuk

The word "context" has a pretty large and abstract definition. From the Merriam-Webster dictionary, context is "the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning."

It's abstract becaus e this definition implies that "context" can be anything providing meaning. It can take any shape or form as long as it clarifies what you are trying to say.

Context adds specificity to your writing and directs the reader attention to a particular train of thought. Thus avoiding, to a certain extent, unwanted interpretation.

Context is important, but too much will get in the way of your message as you digress and too little makes your writing hard for the reader to understand. Moderation is key. You need to find the right balance of necessary information to make your writing enjoyable to read.

Creating a relationship

Context can be anything.

Details about yourself or your character
A backstory
A personality trait
An environment
A life changing situation
A trivial situation
A memory
An anecdote
Something simple as how your day is unfolding
Etc.

It can be anything bridging the gap between you and the reader. Anything that could potentially elevate their emotions or make them invested in your writing.

In my most recommended story, I explained my struggle to learn English. A struggle many people shared and many people related to — especially non-native English speakers. Since the reader understood where I was coming from, they were more willing to listen. It might not be the sole reason for its popularity but it connected my writing with the readers in a way that would have been impossible without the context of my background and struggles.

Context should create a relationship between you and the reader. A relationship based on trust. If the reader trusts you and believes you to be genuine when you're making yourself vulnerable he will want to read your writing and invest time in you.

The same applies to fiction writing. If you are able to create compelling and relatable characters, the reader will enjoy investing time in them.

Context is information

Context creates meaning by providing precise and useful information. Information that can push forward a story or facilitate its understanding.

The other day, I was trying to explain to my parents the difference between loneliness and solitude from a story I wrote earlier this year. In French, both words are compound in one word solitude. Since English is not their strength, they didn't know what it meant and didn't know the difference. I had to put context around each word and explain to them what I meant in the story. So I said something like solitude was the fact of being alone and loneliness is the sadness experienced in solitude.

In any translation, whether it's from a language to another language, or from experience to a language, not everything can be translated. Sometimes there is just no word. Other times you need a whole sentence to describe what you have experience.

Not every language conveys meaning the same way. And not every experience can be explained through a specific word. For example, in German, "schadenfreude" means "pleasure derived from the misfortune of others". Or "jayus" in Indonesian means "a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that once cannot help but laugh". Or "flâner" in French which means "leisurely strolling without any goal or destination".

That's why we need to contextualize some words by explaining its meaning rather than trying to find a word that will convey the same meaning. It helps bridge the gap between what you've experienced and what you are trying to say.

In other words, adding context helps carry the meaning of an experience that cannot be directly explained by a single word.

Self-awereness and creativity

Context is not only important for meaning. It can also help build self-awareness, creativity, and learning.

What I enjoy the most about reading is not only the short break from reality but also how much it seeds creativity.

The most powerful stories are the ones we can relate to. The ones where the writer's experience matches the reader's experience with stories that allow us to say something along the line of "This is me" or "I know what he is talking about".

These situations make us more curious and invested in their writing. It helps us understand ourselves better by triggering connections and memories we wouldn't have thought otherwise.

In the end, it makes us more inclined to make their knowledge our own, learn faster, and be more creative.