Your Reader Has a Brutal Gatekeeper. Most Writers Never Make It Past.

The castle gates won’t open unless you know the reader’s code

You keep writing.

They keep ignoring.

Welcome to The Castle.

At the top of a winding, booby-trapped staircase sits your reader—busy, distracted, skeptical. Armed with a drawbridge lever and a “not today” attitude.

Most writing never makes it past the moat.

Why? Because we assume attention is automatic.

We treat our own ideas like golden keys. But the reader isn’t waiting by the door. They’re in the turret tending to dragons (a.k.a. deadlines, fatigue, 94 open tabs, and at least 2 existential crises).

To reach them, you have to earn your way in—step by step, through a series of hidden gates that guard their attention. There are six in total, but today, we’ll explore just two.

Gate 1: The Gate of Writing Clarity

If you confuse me, you lose me.

This is where most writers fall.

You’ve made it across the moat, survived the side-eyes of the stone-faced sentries (why are they always judging?), and you’re standing in front of the first gate.

It doesn’t care how much heart you poured into that paragraph.

It doesn’t care how brilliant your insight is.

It doesn’t even care if you have the solution to the reader’s biggest problem.

If your writing makes the reader work too hard—you’re out.

This gate is guarded by cognitive load. And it’s ruthless.

Your reader doesn’t contemplate your words like a thoughtful monk sipping tea in a quiet monastery. They’re skimming. Distracted. Skeptical.

Their brain is asking, “Can I understand this quickly?”

If the answer is no, the drawbridge lifts and you’re dumped back into the moat.

The Fix? Clarity. Skimmability. Reader-first formatting.

This isn’t about dumbing down.

It’s about giving the brain what it needs to stay engaged.

Tip: The reader’s brain doesn’t reward you for being smart.
It rewards you for being clear.

Make the structure clean. Use subheads like guideposts.

Write for how people actually read, not how you wish they did.

Because the first gate doesn’t open for cleverness.

It opens for clarity.

Gate 3: The Gate of Relevant Writing

If it’s not about me, it’s not worth my time.

You’ve cleared the first gate. You’re inside the outer walls.

Progress.

But now you face the Gate of Relevance—and this one’s trickier.

The gatekeeper here doesn’t yell or swing an axe.

They just glance at your work, raise an eyebrow, and say:

“Cool backstory. I’ll file it under Who Cares.”

💀 Brutal.

This is where writers get caught in the flow trap.

You’re deep in your groove, writing what excites you . . .

. . . but you forgot to anchor it to what your reader actually needs.

And here’s the harsh truth:

Writing without a reader is just . . . journaling.

Your reader isn’t inside your head.

They don’t care how long it took you to write that piece, or how clever your metaphor is.

They care whether it solves a problem they know they have.

If it doesn’t feel relevant in the first few lines?

Click. Gone. Moat time.

Tip: Relevance isn’t a marketing trick—it’s a principle of adult learning.
As Malcolm Knowles said: adults engage when the material clearly applies to their real-life goals.

The Fix? Lead with their problem. Not your passion.

You’re not losing readers because you’re boring.

You’re losing them because they don’t feel seen.

Make it obvious—fast—why this matters to them.

Show them their reflection. Make them nod.

Then, and only then, will this gate creak open.

Relevance isn’t optional. It’s the passcode.

There Are More Gates Ahead . . .

You’ve made it farther than many.

Two gates down. And you’ve already seen what’s at stake—confusion at the first, irrelevance at the third. And yet… the castle still looms.

There are six gates in total.

Each one guards a different part of the reader’s trust.

Each one must be earned—not assumed.

And most writers don’t even know they exist.

I’ve mapped the gates, the traps, the shortcuts.

And yes—there will be dragons.

Your Move

You’ve just cracked the castle door open . . .

The WriteSmart Mini-Course is your next move—5 quick, high-impact lessons to help you stop writing into the void and start connecting with real readers. Delivered straight to your inbox. And it’s free!

And if you’re curious about all six gates?

I’m building something special: a full eBook called The Six Gates of Worthiness—Your roadmap to earning attention and building loyalty—one gate at a time.

If you care about reader engagement, getting past these six gates is non-negotiable.

Subscribe now and you’ll:

• Get instant access to the FREE Mini-Course
• Be the first to know when the eBook drops
• Unlock tools like the Reader Decoder, Reader Style Reference Sheet, and AI Writing Companion

👉 Start the Mini-Course

👉 Subscribe to Unlock the Tools

Because readers don’t open their gates for just anyone.

Let’s make sure they open them for you.

This article is part of the WriteSmart system—a research-based framework that combines learning science, UX, and storytelling to help writers engage more readers.

This article was originally published on Substack. Republished here for archival and discovery purposes.

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