How Do You Make the Perfect Sandwich?
Can you make something that everyone will love?
I’ll save you the trouble of reading all the way through: the perfect sandwich is a piece of lettuce wrapped in a piece of lettuce.
Want one? No you don’t. Nobody does. So what am I talking about?
Let’s go back a few steps. I’ve been writing this blog for a little while now and I noticed something when I published a recent post that really bugged me.
I’m trying to build a rhythm of writing, free from the need to be perfect, free from over-analysis. I just want to write what I'm thinking.
So I started out writing in a Google doc, because that seemed easier. Then after I cut and pasted into Wordpress, I noticed a little red flag. The Yoast plugin—the authority on SEO (apparently)—told me I was wrong. I didn’t have any subheads.
So I went back in and added a few subheads. Well, the little red flag became a green tick and I had the approval of Yoast. So I published.
The thing is, now the subheads are bugging me. The vibe I’m going for here is one flowing thought. Broken into paragraphs, but just flowing. It wasn’t made for subheads, I didn’t want subheads, it didn’t need subheads. But in the end I changed my work in order to get that little green tick. As if I needed the approval of this plugin.
Of course the plugin is right. Subheads do break up the text and make it easier for the reader to quickly scan through, which means they can more easily get the point you’re writing about and leave.
But there is another approach: It’s called writing for your audience.
You see, this helpful little plugin assumes that all your readers are too busy and too distracted to actually read what you wrote. They’re all skimming, scanning and rushing through it all. Maybe they are.
But then, why are they even here? If these skimmers are not interested in actually reading your stuff, then why change it to please them? That little red flag is a suggestion to help most people improve their writing so most people will be able to read it.
But is that what you want? To dumb it down, smooth off the edges, so the masses can easily consume and discard your work, without getting hooked on anything that stands out?
Why would you want that?
And so we come to making the perfect sandwich.
Let’s take some delicious roast pork—what’s that? Oh, Sam doesn’t eat pork? That’s cool, we’ll make it chicken instead. No? Tom’s a vegetarian. Okay, so, no cheese either then… How about tomatoes? Too squishy. Pickles? Yuk. Lettuce? Yep, everyone’s okay with lettuce. And a little salt—wait, Nicole’s cutting back on the salt. Fine, we’ll just stick to lettuce.
So we throw that lettuce on a nice fresh, crusty roll. Sorry, Sally can’t have gluten. Shall we make it a fresh, crusty, gluten-free roll? Oh, right, Steve’s cutting back on the carbs is he?
Fine, how about we swap the bun for some lettuce. We’ll make it a lettuce wrap?
Yep.
So there you have it. The perfect sandwich: a piece of lettuce wrapped in a piece of lettuce. The sandwich that no one can say no to. The sandwich that no one will ever say yes to.
It’s impossible to make something for everyone. Sam and Tom and Nicole and Sally and Steve will never agree.
But there is another way. If you want to create the perfect sandwich, or the best dinner party ever, you don’t start with complimentary ingredients, you start with complimentary people.
You might only find a dozen people who are interested in a roast pork roll, with extra salt and chilli, topped with purple cabbage and strawberries, but that’s okay. A dozen greasy, porky smiles beats a thousand forgettable lettuce wraps any day.
Thank you to Yoast. I’m sure you are making SEO better. For now I’m trying my best to get better at writing for readers, not skimmers. I know this won’t please everyone.
At least I hope so.
