On Writing for Others

By Killer300 · May 28, 2011 · ·
  1. Okay, what many people fail to understand is that saying, "You're writing for yourself," in many ways misses the point. Yes, I enjoy writing, but I wouldn't write if it wasn't for that people got to see what I wrote. I want to change the reader's view of the world, or at least impact them somehow upon reading whatever I write. Yes, you should enjoy writing itself, but saying that others don't matter to the process is quite ignorant. Would a singer sing if no one could hear their songs? Would a painter paint if there was no chance of anyone seeing the paintings?
    Hence, my writing at least is driven by the desire to cause the reader to feel something, and at best, perhaps to radically change their outlook on life.

Comments

  1. LaGs
    Never underestimate vanity when it comes to writing. People want to be seen and heard, want to be understood, want to be recognised. Sometimes people may write just so they can show off, it can really inflate the ego.

    But i suppose it's like anything. Take sports for example. You rarely get someone who is really good at something and find that they don't have a big ego
  2. Killer300
    Oh, I know that. I understand that the amount I actually impact people is probably little. The main thing is for people to have at least read it. Other desires follow that. But yeah, don't worry, I know the risk of vanity, quite heavily.
  3. cruciFICTION
    The idea is actually (sfaik), "Write for yourself first."
    It's there to basically say that if you don't like it, you're doing it wrong. If it doesn't affect you, you're doing it wrong.

    Aiming to change others with your writing isn't bad, but aiming to effect change in yourself is an even more pure cause. If you can look at your prose and say that you think it's good, then you're doing well, especially if you've learned to actually recognise good prose.

    Even better if you can fall in love with all the right characters, or hate that it's necessary for a character to hurt another that you like.

    It's things like that that make writing for yourself more special than writing for others.
    I mean, other people need to be able to have a share of the best feelings, and if your work causes good emotions in people, great. But it's rare for a piece of fictional prose to actually change someone who reads it. It's common for a piece of fictional prose to change someone who WRITES it, though.
  4. cruciFICTION
    The idea is actually (so far as I know), "Write for yourself first."
    It's there to basically say that if you don't like it, you're doing it wrong. If it doesn't affect you, you're doing it wrong.

    Aiming to change others with your writing isn't bad, but aiming to effect change in yourself is an even more pure cause. If you can look at your prose and say that you think it's good, then you're doing well, especially if you've learned to actually recognise good prose.

    Even better if you can fall in love with all the right characters, or hate that it's necessary for a character to hurt another that you like.

    It's things like that that make writing for yourself more special than writing for others.
    I mean, other people need to be able to have a share of the best feelings, and if your work causes good emotions in people, great. But it's rare for a piece of fictional prose to actually change someone who reads it. It's common for a piece of fictional prose to change someone who WRITES it, though.
  5. Killer300
    Ah, that's true to, however I would still argue that the presence of others to this process is very important to it, in that at least it provided you with a motivation as a storyteller. After all, a storyteller wants to tell his stories to other people, even if perhaps the stories have more profound impact on himself.
  6. Kontrast
    I've written probably a 100 different things that no one has read besides myself. And yet, I don't view them as any more or less important than things that have been read by others. I think its part of the writing process- you write for yourself until you can find who you are, and then you write for others so you can improve and adapt your voice. I'd say most writers did the "for my eyes only" writing a long time ago in their tweens and teens with journals and diaries. But I think after that, we do get to a point where we can't progress much further without outside opinions. I admire your honesty in saying that you DO want others to read your work, that "I don't care if any of my stuff is ever read" attitude is totally false.
  7. Kontrast
    I've written a 100 different things that no one has read besides myself. And yet, I don't view them as any more or less important than things that have been read by others. Its part of the writing process- you write for yourself until you can find who you are, and then you write for others so you can improve and adapt your voice. I'd say most writers did the "for my eyes only" writing a long time ago in their tweens and teens with journals and diaries. But I think after that, we do get to a point where we can't progress much further without outside opinions. I admire your honesty in saying that you DO want others to read your work, that "I don't care if they read it" attitude is totally false.
  8. Killer300
    It's true, much of what we write at first not many will see, however I find it almost impossible to progress without another reading the work, judging it, and so on. More importantly, I guess to summerize my view, I wouldn't write on a deserted island with no internet access. No one else would be able to appreciate the work, not something I would want.
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