Well, I act out writer's interviews like the ones I've heard on CBC, with me being the writer. Helps to organize my thoughts. But I don't really have a clear idea of my readers - someone like me, I guess. I mostly write the kinds of stories I'd like to read but can't find.
well I could answer that in this way I once read a piece/an introduction about this character who wakes up somewhere different. It desribed the stargeness of the place and went to say that women were like supermodels and guys were hideous. I felt let down because as a female reader I would have prefered it the guys were also attractive and not as they were described. So this is the various issues I am tryign to bring up about this thread. The importance of the reader. And to answer your post I don't read dark stuff because I do not understand or cannot figure out the concept in myhead.
Well me personally I think EVERY writer should think about their readers, if they plan to be published. The reader is what will make the book successful. So when i'm writing I have my story movie playing in my head, but at the same time I am imagining the readers expressions and feelings.
So you weren't the intended reader. Maybe the story was written to appeal to superficial insecure men? Or lesbians? Or gay men who loathe supermodel women and are attracted to hideous men?
Too late..I had gotten to that line where it had told me this. Now I know this writer would not have my attention again. Not my loss. I usually read with the intention of reading more, and so when I pick up on things like that , then that is one writer out of the way.
I write because I like to write for myself, but I also like to entertain people - knowing someone else has enjoyed my story makes writing it worth while. So yes, I ALWAYS think about my reader when I write, because I self critique as I go: 'Have I made this too complex? Does this character come off as I intended them to? Does this sound too contrived? Is this plot believable? Does this paragraph flow? Does this description seem vivid/real?' Quite frankly I would be AMAZED if every other writer was not asking themselves the same questions, if not in the first draft then at the very least in the editing process. Isn't this in itself 'keeping your reader in mind'?
I agree. I think self-critiquing can be hard. I find it always useful to have to or three friends on the go that will assist me in proofreading. Another way to consult in forums like this with other writers. It is the best way to do it.
that would just a little example..remember there are thousands of writers out there and so it is better to get it right first time
This is ridiculous. I write because I want to entertain -- and entertaining people necessitates reaching them in the first place, which means publishing -- so I am a hack? No story written by someone who doesn't care about the readers will ever be as enjoyable to read as one written by someone with the readers in mind, and making the story enjoyable to read is my standard for writing a good story. If you're only writing for yourself, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't insult people who write for different reasons than you. Not everybody who writes to get published just wants to be rich and famous.
Actually, I think it is. As a writer you can suck up or alienate the reader, based on your writing. You feel alienated by the writer you mention because the worldview expressed doesn't match your [ideal] worldview. To prevent falling into the same trap, you seem to encourage bland writing where no real opinions are expressed, for fear of alienating readers. I'd rather write what I think is honest writing and if that results in alienating some readers, so be it. I respect my readers too much to write risk-free bland prose that aims not to 'offend' anyone. So what if it offends someone? If my writing offends someone, it only shows that it's capable of engendering emotions. Better to offend one in every ten readers, then leave nine in every ten readers unmoved.
But who are the readers? Readers come in all shapes and sizes, with different backgrounds, interests, educational levels, emotional needs, and so on and so forth. What story appeals to ALL readers? Probably none. So writing for "the readers" is a bit futile, silly, even quixotic. James Joyce did not write for the same readers as Stephen King. Jane Austen did not write for the same readers as Mickey Spillane. And so on. I write for me, with the tacit assumption that there are other people out there like me. Or sufficiently like me that they might like a story I write when I write it for myself. I think every writer hopes there are readers with the same tastes and values - readers who will appreciate their work. But no writer can assume that all readers will do so. No writer can write for everybody. Each writer writes for a subset of readers. Coarsely sorted, this might mean that horror writers write for horror fans, sci-fi writers write for sci-fi fans, romance writers write for romance fans, etc. And these groups of fans might not overlap at all. There is no uniform crowd of identical "readers" out there. Every reader is different, and each is looking for a different experience when reading a story. The only honest thing for a writer to do is to write for himself, until he's proud of his work, and hope that work finds an audience somewhere in the vast galaxy of different readers out there.
I think this was a given. Nobody (apart from the OP, perhaps) is naive enough to think that they can please all the people all the time by writing something so generic and bland that it will resonate with everyone. Most people have a 'target' readership in mind. However, for the purposes of this thread they might just choose to call them their 'readers' rather than specifying which kind of readers they are targetting, because we are having a general discussion. I amazed at how literally some people take the posts on this board...
I was specifically replying to Ixloriana. She seemed to want to lump every possible reader into the same basket. Let me restate my point another way: I write for myself. I assume there are readers out there who are at least somewhat like me, in that they have similar interests and tastes. So when I write, I try to please myself. I assume that others like me will come along for the ride. I don't think of "the readers". Any readers I care about are somewhat like me, or like the things I like. More to your point, there may be some writers out there who 'target' readers who aren't like themselves. Maybe they're atheists trying to write Christian fiction for fundamentalists. Or maybe they're men trying to write chick-lit. Or maybe they're conservatives trying to write gay erotica. Who knows? I'm saying I can't do that. I write for me, and by extension, people like me. I'm not trying to target a market of people who aren't like me. So I don't have to think of "the reader" as a person other than myself. I would frustrate myself to no end if I were trying to write for an audience NOT like me.
JMO, but my take on the "only writing to be published" is that the author is writing for that purpose alone or that that is the number one purpose in writing, not because they have a great urge to write, or have a story they want to tell, or any of the things that indicate a love for writing over the love of fame. Honestly, I don't think there are very many writers out there who don't, at some level, want to be published. They want people to read what they've written. But if that's the overwhelming goal, it shows in the work. Just as I think writers who are overly concerned with the readers won't write as well as if they were concentrating on the story instead. I have one philosophy about writing. It's all about the story. Nothing else should supplant that.
I never meant to imply that you should write to please everyone -- that's at least as ridiculous as not taking readers into account at all. I absolutely never said "ALL readers" and I certainly never said "the readers" in quotations, like some mythical group that all writers are trying to please. When I talk about the readers, I mean the people reading your story, whoever they may be. Not a collective "the readers" like "all the readers everywhere." I'll clarify: No story that is written without taking into account the fact that other people will read it will ever be as enjoyable to read as one that is. What I'm saying is, if you aren't taking into the account the reader, does that mean that you don't include enough backstory? (After all, the author already knows all the backstory needed to understand the story.) Does that mean you don't write with the intention of scaring or surprising the reader? (After all, the author already knows what's going to happen.) Do you think about how the reader will feel when reading a certain part of the story? If not, does your story fail to have emotional impact? That's true. But... ...is taking it a bit far, in my opinion. Well said. I think it's tough to write a coherent story, though, if you don't think about the readers at all.
Very rarely do I ever think about my readers. Writing for yourself is first and foremost the priority. Wondering what others will like will only muck it all up.
