Sometimes, I feel desperately fed up with the online world.
I feel bored out of my mind.
How often do you read on auto-pilot without absorbing any knowledge?
How often do you skim texts, looking for interesting tidbits? And how often do you feel disappointed?
I sometimes wonder whether we, as business writers, are doomed to bore each other to tears.
At school, we’ve learned how to write. We learned about grammar and punctuation. But did we learn how to write well? Did we learn how to engage our readers? And how to be persuasive?
If we want our messages to stick, we have to educate and entertain our readers. If we want to share our big ideas without boring our readers to tears, we have to mix abstract advice with concrete imagery.
You haven’t learned that at school, have you? Me neither.
Shall I explain?
The ladder of abstraction
At school, you might have learned that words are either abstract or concrete.
A pear, a grape, a juicy pineapple—these are all concrete words because we can hold a pear in our hand, taste a grape, and smell a ripe pineapple; they’re tangible.
In contrast, success, failure, and a mathematical equation are abstract concepts because we can’t touch failure, we can’t taste an equation, and we can’t smell success. These phrases don’t conjure up concrete images in our mind—unless we get more detailed information like: Henrietta tripped over her shoelaces, lost the contest, and cried like a baby; she felt like a failure.
The distinction between abstract vs concrete may seem clear at first.
But is it?
Think about fruit. What image pops into your mind?
You might think of the apples, pears and kiwis in your fruit bowl, or you might think of one juicy mango, or you might think of the fruit display at your supermarket or local greengrocer.
When a word conjures up different images—a fruit bowl vs one juicy mango, then a word isn’t terribly concrete.
Even a word like apple is still a tiny bit abstract, as you might conjure up a different image from me. You might think of the bruised apples your mother used for cooking your favorite apple sauce. Or perhaps you think of the zesty Granny Smith you had yesterday afternoon. I’m thinking of the Braeburn apple I had for breakfast with cinnamon, blueberries, almonds, and yogurt.
So, abstract and concrete aren’t discrete categories. They’re a gliding scale.
In his excellent book “A Writer’s Coach,” Jack Hart calls this the ladder of abstraction. You can plot our example of fruit on the ladder of abstraction like this:
You can create a similar ladder for other topics, for instance:
The further you descend down the ladder, the easier it becomes to visualize your words, to imagine a specific scene.
Many writers stay stuck at the top half of the ladder. They mix abstract language with somewhat concrete language, but they don’t become specific enough.
But only when readers can picture a specific scene, your writing becomes engaging and colorful.
Examples: How to mix abstract and concrete language
Good journalists educate readers by mixing specific stories with abstract data and trends.
An article about knife crime by Gary Younge, for instance, starts with a specific story of a specific student:
Quamari Barnes, a 15-year-old student, had been stabbed several times. He fell just yards from the school gate. A woman cradled him in her arms as paramedics rushed to the scene before whisking Quamari away to hospital.
By most accounts, Quamari danced to the beat of his own drum. As a precocious child, he held court in conversations with adults from an early age; by his teens, he could cook a full Sunday roast on his own. When he was younger, he had no problem being the only boy in his dance class; as a teenager, while his friends were into grime and rap, he went old-school – Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and Aswad.
Later on, the story gets connected to data and trends:
A Metropolitan police report released last month indicated that between 2014 and 2016 the number of children carrying knives in London schools rose by almost 50%, while the number of knife offences in London schools rose by 26%.
Together, the stories and data engage and educate. The data are cold facts outlining the big picture. The specific stories about specific people add emotion—they provide color to the hard data. They make the facts meaningful.
Good educational content jumps from concrete to abstract and back all the time. Below follows an example of a concrete paragraph from a blog post about the most important question in your life by Mark Manson:
Everybody wants to have an amazing job and financial independence — but not everyone wants to suffer through 60-hour work weeks, long commutes, obnoxious paperwork, to navigate arbitrary corporate hierarchies and the blasé confines of an infinite cubicle hell. People want to be rich without the risk, without the sacrifice, without the delayed gratification necessary to accumulate wealth.
And here’s the abstract lesson—the rule:
[W]hat we get out of life is not determined by the good feelings we desire but by what bad feelings we’re willing and able to sustain to get us to those good feelings.
And he adds a specific story about himself:
For most of my adolescence and young adulthood, I fantasized about being a musician — a rock star, in particular. Any badass guitar song I heard, I would always close my eyes and envision myself up on stage playing it to the screams of the crowd, people absolutely losing their minds to my sweet finger-noodling. This fantasy could keep me occupied for hours on end. (…)
Despite fantasizing about this for over half of my life, the reality never came. And it took me a long time and a lot of negative experiences to finally figure out why: I didn’t actually want it. (…)
The daily drudgery of practicing, the logistics of finding a group and rehearsing, the pain of finding gigs and actually getting people to show up and give a shit. The broken strings, the blown tube amp, hauling 40 pounds of gear to and from rehearsals with no car. It’s a mountain of a dream and a mile-high climb to the top. And what it took me a long time to discover is that I didn’t like to climb much. I just liked to imagine the top.
And to jump to the last sentence of his post, Manson summarizes his message in abstract language again:
This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes. So choose your struggles wisely, my friend.
To get readers to listen to our advice, we need to explain the abstract rules, and share concrete stories to add meaning. We sketch the big picture, and use examples to add color.
Good writing dances up and down the ladder of abstraction
A good journalist may narrate the story of one refugee family, before explaining the trends in people’s movements across the earth.
A business coach illustrates online business models with real life stories. An architect shows photos or drawings of buildings to illustrate architectural trends.
Trends, data, rules, models, lessons, and advice are all abstract pieces of information. They tell us the big picture.
But the big picture only comes alive with specific examples and stories.
Recommended reading on concrete language:
Imagery examples: How to paint pictures with words
A brilliant example of explanatory writing: A story about whales
Fab examples of concrete language from a NYT bestseller
This is awesome, especially for a new and upcoming writer. I was engaged and I liked it.
Rupert.
Thank you, Rupert. Happy writing!
You have to want to pay the price for success—that says it all.
Can’t begin to tell you how many gems I discovered in this article. Kudos. Thanks a MILLION.
I’m glad you found it useful, Donna. Happy writing!
Henneke
You have illustrated this beautiful concept in yet another illustrious article of yours on “Zoom in Zoom out techniques” like no one else. Take a bow Maam. You are my forever writing Hero.
Awww. Thank you, Padmaa. I remember feeling really inspired to write this article. It was fun to write!
This post definitely sheds some light upon my daily writing.
I’m in charge of social media for a tech-company and more often than not, I try to inject very fancy and complex terms, hoping that it will attract the technical readers. But the more I write, the more I realize that especially on social media when the attention of the audience is extremely short, it’s way better to keep the copy straight forward, short, and provide as much value as possible instead of using bait-click words.
Another thing I learned on the way is that, regardless of your audience, staying authentic and genuine is the key.
Yes to being authentic and genuine!
Thank you for stopping by, Joy.
Writing for Social Media, a writing course I’m currently taking on edX brought me here.
This is absolutely breathtaking.
I subscribed for the “16 concise mails” too?
I didn’t even know my website was mentioned in that course. Thank you for letting me know. I hope you’ll enjoy the “snacks!” 🙂
Really great article with lots of helpful ideas. I find it hand-wringing-ly frustrating as a business writer when my clients insist that the tone I use is “too conversational” or “too informal”.
Unless you’re the Pope or a president, I find most online and/or marketing writing to be too formal. When people need to pull out a dictionary to get your point, there’s a problem.
Thanks again for the great post. I’m looking forward to checking out more articles here soon.
I agree with you—far too much writing is far too formal and it fails to engage. I love your phrase hand-wringing-ly frustrating. It is so true.
Thanks Henneke for sharing this useful and important rule for writing content that grabs and moves readers to vividly imagine specific scenes supported with context. Being specific and dabbling between concrete and abstract writing is the key to great writing.
I’m glad you found it useful, Lucas. Happy writing!
Isn’t making paragraphs concrete making them verbose? How do we tackle it?
Nope, being verbose means adding needless detail. When you add relevant details, you make your story more vivid. See also here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/precise-writing/
Very helpful examples of the difference between concrete and Abstract thinking.
I was born with Autism Spectrum disorder and I have concrete thinking.The world runs one way and that is with abstract words.
Your website helped me understand my own thinking.If the teacher starts speaking jargon and uses abstract words I am lost.
Thanks for helping me understand why I keep getting confused with what is said not just with teachers but with everyday people.
People who know how to speak concrete when I get confused is good.I am not writing a story or anything but trying to understand myself.
The visuals with the concrete and abstract words is very helpful.
I wish the world communicated more in concrete ideas, too, as it’s easier for everyone to understand concrete messages. I’m glad you found the visuals useful. Thank you for your comment, Megan.
Same issue here. I try to ask people to explain more, and communicate to force them to the concrete way that aligned with my concern thinking style. Unfortunately, it does not work at all. Many times the conversations end via the following sentence: Sorry I could not able to explain it more for you.
It can sometimes help to ask people for an example. Such as: Can you give an example of how this works?
Many thanks for this post! I was so enchanted I just purchased a copy of your “Blog to win business” from Amazon. I’m hoping it will improve my own monthly blog posts.
Best regards,
Peter
Thank you, Peter. I hope you’ll enjoy the book. Let me know?
Oh, my goodness, Henneke! Your website is a giant maze of information and I can’t get out, lol. I keep clicking on the next link to see what else is around the corner :). But I am so glad I got stuck here :D. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, it’s a maze, isn’t it? Before you know you can spend hours reading here …
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Lena. Happy writing!
I think last two lines is the summary of the post, love the style.
last year i have taken a course from Coursera and learned the strategies of writing an introduction paragraph and I loved those strategies. Among those strategies, two were writing through storytelling and writing with interesting statistics. I think your post will help me to combine those and to write an engaging introduction for my reader.
thanks
Yes, using stats and storytelling are both powerful strategies; and the real magic happens when you combine the two.
Thank you for stopping by to comment, Hasan. I appreciate it.
Loved this post! The abstract ladder really got me thinking and when I saw the mix of concrete and abstract to deliver interesting content, it was another light bulb moment.
Thanks for the consistently inspiring and enriching posts, Henneke.
Hey Henneke,
This article resonated deeply with me, especially:
> And what it took me a long time to discover is that I didn’t like to climb much. I just liked to imagine the top.
That’s something I’ve come to realise lately, the difference between thinking that you want something, and actually wanting it so much so that you’ll put in the hard work to go and achieve it.
Did you click through to read Mark Manson’s article? I really his perspective on this, too.
Thank you for stopping by, Matthew.
Hi Henneke,
Excellent post as usual.
It means while descending by the ladder of abstraction we’ve to cut FAT(gobbledygook) from our content to make it concrete. Examples, story & few sensory words help to explain the abstract rule & create a Big picture. Ultimately it becomes digestible for readers to gobble up. 🙂
I understood this much from post. 😉
Thank you so much.
That’s a good point about gobbledygook because gobbledygook is usually somewhere in the middle of the ladder. It’s not super abstract and it’s not really specific. Usually content gets better if we replace gobbledygook by super-concrete details.
Thank you for stopping by again, Mehera. I appreciate it 🙂
As usual, you don’t disappoint! Your idea on abstract vs concrete is interesting, I’ve actually never thought about the distinction between the two but now that I think about it, I can wholeheartedly agree with you — they are indeed very distinct from one another.
I tend to be stuck in the top half of the ladder for most of my writing but hopefully now that i’ve learnt a bit more about abstract and concrete, I can maybe switch between the top half and bottom half of the ladder more often!
Anyways before I end up writing an entire essay, lemme just end it there! Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us Henneke, i’m super duper excited for more content from you!
Most people remain stuck at the top half of the ladder, but the most interesting content combines the very top with the very bottom of the ladder; it mixes the super-concrete with the really abstract.
Happy writing, George! And thank you for your lovely comment. 🙂
My posts always do better if I begin with a juicy story. You are so right! Why can’t I remember that when I’m writing!?
I bet you have more than enough juicy stories to tell!
I absolutely love all your articles, they’re all so fun to read yet so informative at the same time, you’re definitely the type of writer I aspire to be (your graphs aren’t half bad either :P)
Along with the concepts you explained, the article that Gary wrote was also pretty nice. From the way you explained it, I can definitely understand why it was so effective — something that might have taken me a bit longer to realise if it weren’t for you!
I agree with you – that article by Gary Younge is well written, and it’s interesting to see how he keeps jumping up and down the Ladder of Abstraction to mix concrete stories with the data and the trends.
Thank you for stopping by.
Fascinating! I certainly didn’t learn how to write well at school and had never heard of abstract and concrete words until now. So thank you, Henneke for another great post 🙂 and thank you for the recommendation, will check it out.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Yolanda. Maybe I should be more grateful for bad teachers, so there’s still enough interest in reading my blog posts 😉
I hope you’ll enjoy Jack Hart’s “The Writing Coach”
Hi Henneke,
You’re right, I’m sure the teachers didn’t mention that we have to mix abstract advice with concrete imagery. Unless I was asleep…
But getting that mix of facts intertwined with stories is a great way to keep readers engaged with our posts.
I loved your examples and illustrations in this post, just been saving them to Pinterest.
– David
PS – will check out the recommended book, A Writer’s Coach
I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy that book, David!
And it’s good to know I wasn’t the only one with bad teachers 😉
Thank you for stopping by and for spreading the word.
Hi Henneke,
Love your drawings. The last one made me smile with delight. ?
I still remember how you taught me during the course, to use examples and metaphors. You wouldn’t let me off the hook before the scene became vivid with details. That was a great lesson. And your article reminded me of it. But not only. Thank you for bringing the subject of the abstract and concrete writing to us so clearly and artistically.
When my drawings make someone smile, I’m happy 🙂
Thank you for your lovely comment, Irina. Happy writing!
Henneke, I love this from your email intro. “To be honest, I’m not sure how many writing teachers really understand it. (Abstract/Concrete continuum) I definitely never learned about it at school.
And that irks me.”
🙂 Tis an irritation isn’t it? I got past it, more or less, when I decided the “master” teacher’s limitations left that much more for me to discover on my own. Kinda turned it into a treasure hunt for me.
Curtis, that’s so true. The treasure hunt is perhaps more satisfying than being told how to write. Organizing our own treasure hunt and discovering the treasures is fun, right? Perhaps I should be more grateful to my teachers who left me so much to discover 🙂
With your student’s quest, since of curiosity and imagination you have already done a wonderful job of organizing your treasure hunt and sharing it with the rest of us. I would submit this most recent post as exhibit “A”. The email page you sent was killer. It was impossible for me not to click through to the post. Impossible On with the treasure hunt. The best has yet to be found.
The click rate on this email was pretty high, so many people have found it quite impossible to resist clicking. It’s been on my list a while to write a blog post about emails that entice readers to click. You reminded me of this, so thank you for the nudge 🙂
Sometimes it’s hard to keep the faith, but I think you’re right that the most sparkling and most surprising treasures are still to be found 🙂
Thank you, Curtis, I appreciate your encouragement!
this is one reason I always look forward to receiving that email from you weekly, it’s always worth the wait. satisfying and sticking.
this is yet another undeniably enchanting one.
thanks for this one again.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Cynthia. I’m glad you’re finding my content worth the wait 🙂
What a wonderful contemporary illustration of the use of Ladder of Abstraction! I originally discovered it in S.I. Hayakawa’s “Language In Thought And Action” (5th ed. 1990) and use it often in my daily life in general.
Interestingly, Jack Hart also refers to that book – that’s where he first came across the Ladder of Abstraction. I’ve put it on my reading list. I’m looking forward to reading it!
Like Ini I too would like to learn more of this concept. I’m not a writer just a budding entrepreneur who savours the art of good writing practise and who strives to do better at such. Your advice is always a worthwhile read Henneke and while ‘yes’ I’m guilty of skimming for tidbits I look forward to your posts my dear. Cheers sweetie….
I’d recommend Jack Hart’s book (A Writer’s Coach) – he discusses the ladder of abstraction in chapter 9. You may also find it useful to analyze how other writers use abstract vs concrete language – that’s what I do to keep improving my own writing.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one, Debbie. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Excellent post! When I read your posts I feel like we are sitting together over coffee or tea. Thoroughly enchanting! Thanks!
I enjoyed our cuppa together, Lane. 🙂
Fantastic post. This reminds me of my great high school English teacher. He would have us write a short essay almost everyday. His prompts would have us identify our topic to write about and then include “textual evidence” to back up our claims. This article reminded me of that.
It sounds like you had a much better English teacher than I’ve had!
Thank you for stopping by, Bobby.
You’ve been reading Jack Hart! Yay 🙂 Isn’t ‘A Writer’s Coach’ terrific?
I love the way with this ladder of abstraction concept he values both the abstract and the earthy. He wants writers to connect these poles together, to get them working with each other – rather than staying stuck in the boring middle.
I found his book a fab reinforcement to what you teach on your courses. Highly recommended. Both your courses and his book 😉
Yes, it’s a terrific book, and I so appreciate your recommendation! It’s probably one of the best (perhaps THE best) all round writing guide I’ve read.
I haven’t read the whole book yet. I like dipping into it and read a chapter here or there. I actually read the chapter about the ladder of abstraction a couple of months ago, but didn’t quite know how I wanted to write it about until we were doing metaphors in the course last week 🙂
I appreciate your recommendation on my courses, too 🙂
Hi Henneke,
I not only enjoyed your article but didn’t skim read at any point; so I guess you walked the talk.
I’d like to ask the purpose of the square parentheses in the Mark Manson content…[W]hat we get out of life…
Thanks
That’s because in the original text it wasn’t a capital because it wasn’t the start of the sentence. The full sentence was: “Therefore, what we get out of life is not determined by the good feelings we desire but by what bad feelings we’re willing and able to sustain to get us to those good feelings.” But the “Therefore” was confusing as a stand-alone sentence, so I eliminated it.
Another way to quote would be:
“(…) what we get out of life is not determined by the good feelings we desire but by what bad feelings we’re willing and able to sustain to get us to those good feelings.”
I’m not sure whether different style guides have different preferences. I’ve seen both used.
There’s a new concept. Abstraction on a scale. Huh. Interesting!
Yes, surprisingly simple, yet quite impactful 🙂
Does the author draw up complicated schemes of wheter you should match a 1/3 concrete with a 2/3 abstract word, for instance? What is exactly his point about subdividing abstract and concrete?
Jack Hart doesn’t suggest a specific scheme or formula. I don’t think that exists.
The point of the continuum of abstraction is to help people understand what it really means to use concrete language. Many writers think their writing is concrete, but their writing is only half-way the continuum. If they’re able to make their writing more concrete (or more specific), then their content becomes more engaging as readers can visualize their words.
A second advantage is helping writers understand that abstract sentences aren’t wrong—as long as you mix the abstract statements with concrete examples so the writing feels alive rather than being just dry facts.
Ah, OK, gotcha!
Excellent Henneke,
When I first stepped into the blogosphere, the fact that was bewildering was the number of authors devoted on making you a better blogger.
From tech lessons to how-to’s, there seemed to be few blogs with anything I wanted to read.
Then I came cross Harleena Singh and Aha.now.com., The Wondereof tech.com and your highly educating and super reading site
Your clear thinking and analytical writing could be a master class in any University – this is not flattery. I am a retired professor myself.
At the same time there is so much of you in every post that I can almost see you, your bycle and sketching pens,each time I start to read your writing.
Abstract my mind picture maybe,but you have laid down more concrete facts than anyone I have read. It’s like hearing facts from a trusted friend whose way with words is magical. Combine that with your cartoons you are someone I know+ in my mind.
I wish my days of teaching were still going.
All my students would be using your posts as course material.
Thank you again.
Nicolas.
Yes, I know what you’re saying about the bewildering blogosphere. I’ve felt the same, and still feel like that to some extent. I survive by focusing on getting the essentials right.
Thank you for you lovely compliment on my writing. I love writing and sharing what I learn!
I appreciate your stopping by, Nicolas. Thank you.
My pleasure entirely.
As usual, another thoughtful insight this will remain etched in my brain for a long time – probably forever.
Thanks H.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Bernice. Happy writing!
This is an interesting concept, Henneke and I would like to study it better.
Thank you for sharing.
If you want to know more, I recommend Jack Hart’s book “A Writer’s Coach” – chapter 9.
Also, see how other writers you admire implement this idea; that’s one of the best ways to learn more and improve your writing (it’s what I continue to do to improve my writing).
A luminary once explained that, as we grow, we move from a state of unaware ignorance (we dont know that we dont know) through to a state of aware knowing.
Henneke, you’ve just helped us writers to be aware of the abstraction ladder AND to know how to use it. Thank you indeed.
Gary
Yes, that’s so true… moving from a state of unaware ignorance to a state of aware ignorance can be quite scary so I wanted to make sure this post moved you all the way to a state of aware knowing. That’s how I like to write my blog posts 🙂
Thank you for your lovely comment, Gary.
Hi Henneke,
Great post. Loved the stories and the examples. When you use examples like that, abstract vs concrete language does seem clearer. I didn’t fully understand it before but your examples helped me see the big picture of how each type of language works.
And can be effective.
Great job as usual.
– Andrew
I also loved how Jack Hart explained this in his book The Writer’s Coach. I knew about the importance of specificity and have written about it before. But this was the first time, I heard about the ladder of abstraction – I love it!
This was a fascinating article. What a great explanation of how abstract and concrete work together to paint a vivid picture and convey a message. And boy, could I relate to my eyes glazing over looking for a tidbit…
A Writer’s Coach sounds like a great read. And your drawings are fabulous!
Yes, the Writer’s Coach is an excellent read. It’s a great book for grazing (like reading a chapter here or there when you feel like it). I don’t think it’s a book to read from cover to cover in one session of binge reading.
Thank you for your compliment on my drawings. It was fun to draw a little more for this post 🙂
This is an excellent post. It’s a step closer to understanding something I’ve been struggling to understand, this whole abstract VS concrete thing.
To be honest, I didn’t know this is one of the issues I struggled with. I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to put it into words. That’s what makes this post good.
Thank you.
You’re not the only one. This is where I see most writers go wrong, and they don’t realize exactly why their writing feels bland.
Once you understand this dance between abstract and concrete ideas, you start seeing it in all good writing.
I shall keep an eye open for the dance.
A question to a fellow litty: what do you think of Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Lathe of Heaven?
I recently read it. Lovely story, but her use of language is appalling.
Am I the only one who thinks so? I can’t seem to find straight crit on her work. It’s disturbing.
I’ve not read any of her work (I’m not really into SF). I purchased her book “Steering the Craft,” but haven’t read it yet. So, I can’t really comment.
I’d say, trust your own judgment. A lot of writing is surprisingly poor.
Great story again Henneke! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us time and again.
It’s a pleasure to write for lovely readers like you, Olga! Seriously. I mean that 🙂
Very interesting. I never considered writing or stories to sit on a scale of abstract to concrete. Or perhaps I just never considered it this way.
I know I finally broke my silence with your last post (or the one before?) and complimented you on how amazing of a writer I think you are, so my next sentence is probably going to make me sound like either a nut bag or a creepy fan, but I think your writing is art. This is the thought that popped into my mind after I navigated your once again magical story.
But then I pondered this a few more seconds and I thought, but no you’re also very clear in delivering and achieving what you set out to explain, so more mathematical. And then I decided that your writing is as beautiful as a simple, yet elegant math question and as adventurous and insightful as a beautiful piece of art.
To me being both math and art is golden.
What can I reply to such a lovely comment?
Thank you for your huge compliment, Charlie. You put a smile on my face 🙂