It has been estimated that average speakers of a language know from 45,000 to 60,000 words. This means that we as speakers must have stored these words somewhere in our heads, our so called "mental lexicon". But what exactly is it that we have stored? Memorize about vocabulary and automatically without thinking.
What do we mean when we speak of "words"?
Often, of course, you are not free to choose at all. You must compose a report for a business meeting or write on an assigned topic for an English class. The problem then becomes not what to write about but how to attack it. When you can select a subject for yourself, it ought to interest others as well, at least potentially. It should be within the range of your experience and skill, thought it is the best if it stretches you. It ought to be neither so vast that no one person can encompass it nor so narrow and trivial that no one cares.
Don't be afraid to express your opinion and feelings. You are a vital part of the subject. No matter what the topic, you are really writing about how you understand it, how you feel about it. Good writing has personality. Readers enjoy sensing a mind at work, hearing a clear voice, responding to an unusual sensibility. If you have chosen a topic that is of general concern, and if genuine feeling and intelligence come through, you will be interesting. Interest lies not so much in a topic as in what a writer has made of it.
The Readers
You don't want to repel readers. This doesn't mean you have to flatter them or avoid saying something they may disagree with. It does mean you must respect them. Don't take their interest for granted or suppose that it is the readers' job to follow you. It's your job to guide them, to make their task as easy as the subject allows.
Ask yourself questions about your readers : What can I expect them to know and not know? What do they believe and value? How do I want to affect them by what I say? What attitudes and claims will meet with their approval? What will offend them? What objections may they have to my ideas, and how can I anticipate and counter those objections?
Readers may be annoyed if you overestimate their knowledge. Tossing off unusual words may seem a put-down, a way of saying, "I know more than you." On the other hand, laboring the obvious also implies a low opinion of readers : don't tell them what a wheel is; they know. It isn't easy to gauge your readers level of knowledge or to sense their beliefs and values. Sensitivity to readers comes only with experience, and then imperfectly. Tact and respect, however, go along way. Readers have egos too.
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