Tag: writer for hire

Writing Skills: Providing context

January 15, 2026
Bookshelf

When we write for an audience, providing readers with context is often integral to a story (occasionally, some of us write for ourselves and inherently recognize the context of what we’re writing about…..). Many times, context makes the story – drawing in the reader.

In journalism studies – and in our high school writing classes (mine, anyway) – would-be writers learn to impart who-what-when-where-how-why to one’s audience. Communicating the who or what – the topic – is usually straightforward enough. Bringing the subject to life by providing context makes writing worth reading.

There are people – myself included – who like to deduce or infer context when we are told something verbally (“If B, then A and C”). Those of us who enjoy this mental work have to recognize that this thinking style isn’t auto-pilot – or pleasant – for everyone. We therefore have to remember to lay out context when communicating. I’m inclined to think that this forced effort makes us better writers by virtue of consciously learning to take our readers desire for context into account. Actually, all writers have their own communication style is specific to their temperament and need to learn to recognize – and account for – reader needs when writing for an audience….. A truly well-trained writer is one who we love to read specifically because we enjoy the writing style they have cultivated….

Sometimes, context is broadly viewed as self-evident. Stand-up comics often deliver jokes such that the context is thought to be self-evident and – therefore – funny. For example, “I wouldn’t want to be the fish in this photo.”

cat looking at fish

Usually, however, the work of setting up context is the writer’s responsibility. In journalistic parlance, the writer doesn’t just deliver the “what” of a story. Where did this happen? Who was involved and where did it happen? How did it occur? If the context of “why a story matters” won’t likely be self-evident to the reader, the why needs to be incorporated into a story. The “why” is where we writers get to be creative in our communications.

In the following photo, it is self-evident that this is a night scene of a city’s downtown skyline (“what”). A curious viewer might want to look for clues to identify which city is being viewed (in this particular photo, the tall, thin building to the right and the downward reflection of light identifying water are clues of the city’s identity). However, I generated more interest in this photo when I explained to an audience that I took this photo during my daily commute to a job for which I would leave home before daylight to avoid heavy rush hour traffic along Seattle’s I-5 corridor and that I had to find an appropriate place to pull over to take this photo. Providing my audience with context about my work life and indicating that I had the wherewithal to recognize a camera-worthy scene during my morning commute made the photo more interesting.

Seattle skyline at night

Providing context well when writing – while also recognizing how much not to tell so that the reader can draw their own ideas – is crucial in moving beyond typing to quality writing. Burkhardt Writing Services is available when you need a good writer.

Kim Burkhardt provides writing services – including ghostwriting, “corporate storytelling,” articles, how-to manuals, and editing – at Burkhardt Writing Services. Contact us about your wordsmithing and storytelling needs.

The written word: how we present ourselves matters

December 30, 2025
leather bound book
Book with leather cover

Why work with a contract writer-for-hire?

Most of us learn during high school or college that how we dress for a job interview can impact whether we get the job.  How we present ourselves matters. “Dress for success.”

Several years ago, I was dealing with a serious illness and was getting bounced from one medical specialist to the next (appointments initially started with “We don’t know what medical condition you have” and then moved into “We don’t know how to treat this”).    I considered that appearance matters; I took to dressing well for medical appointments to be taken seriously (i.e., “This woman looks important – we need to put in a serious effort to resolve her medical issue.”).   (Side note: it was my cat’s veterinarian who finally came up with a treatment plan. There was no way to see that coming!)

How we present ourselves on paper also matters.  People judge us via the written word just as much as they judge us by how we dress.  How many times have you read something and wondered, “What was that person trying to say?”  Or, “Was that person asleep in their high school writing class?”  Likewise, readers also judge you by how you present yourself on paper.  Your ability to develop and artfully articulate ideas on paper – or not! – makes an impression.  Most people want the impression they convey to be positive.   “Write for success.”

Consider an example of how people present themselves on paper.   During an earlier stage of my life, I would wonder how famously busy people – politicians, actors, etc. – found time to write their memoirs.  Today, there’s an increasing willingness for well-known people to acknowledge using ghostwriters, researchers, editors, etc. for their memoirs.    Just this year, my mother gave me Bill Gate’s memoir – Source Code /> My Beginnings (published in 2025) – as a Christmas gift.  Bill openly acknowledges in his book – by name – the wordsmiths, researchers, editors, friends and relatives, former teachers, etc. who helped bring his memoir to print.  He only has so many hours in a day and writing may or may not “be his thing” – yet, he wanted his memoir to be presented well.    He was variously present during the memoir’s development process – his “writing support team” helped turn his concept of a published memoir into a book worth sending to a publisher and sharing with the public.

Everyone can consider that how we – including you – present ourselves on paper matters.

Those of us who write professionally know how to present you – and your ideas – successfully.   Working with a professional writer means that you can spend your time and energy “doing what you do” while being confident that we writers will competently present your written ideas “for success.”  If you want your ideas to be taken seriously, present them in way that will be taken seriously.  How you present yourself and your ideas matters.  

“Yes, but I don’t have Bill Gates’ budget.”  Yes, well….. Your ideas will be taken seriously if they are presented in a manner that people take seriously.   Present for success.

Kim Burkhardt provides writing services – including ghostwriting, “corporate storytelling,” articles, how-to manuals, and editing – at Burkhardt Writing Services. Contact us about your wordsmithing and storytelling needs.