Who do you write for?

Who do you write for? I've heard a lot of people say to write for yourself, but I usually think of someone else when I'm writing. The editor I want to buy my writing. For the most part, that editor is who I am aiming to impress. It doesn't always work out, but sometimes it does.

I can't say I ever write for the readers because the idea of that is a little terrifying to me. Of course, readers are the ones who consume our writing once it's published, but I always feel quite nervous about that and try not to think about it too much.

It helps me to have a single reader in mind. What helps you during the writing process? Who do you picture reading your work while you are writing or revising your story? Who do you write for?

 

I write for myself, but with the understanding that it needs to be 'up to standards', meaning it will please a general audience (of people who like the same kind of stuff I do). Of course that's easy for me to say, since I'm not even trying to get published yet, just writing to bring my skills up and learn the ropes.

 

So, what does writing for yourself really mean? I think I always have written with someone else in mind reading it whether a teacher, professor, lover, friend, family member, publication or editor. For me, the idea of writing something with the intent of someone reading it has been intertwined or one.

At the same time, I do get anxiety the idea that maybe more than my intended one-person audience is reading something I wrote sometimes. I mean, of course, people are going to read my work when it's published. And the more people who read it, the more chances there our for people to figure out I just might be a talentless fraud. Don't get me wrong, I get super excited about being published and work very hard to achieve just that. Maybe I get a nervous-excitement combo going on right when something comes out. But if I were to allow myself to think that far down the line, I don't think I would get much of anything done at all.

However, all that being said, I am quite aware that other writers might not have these sort of complexes or sort stage-fright feelings I can get. Sometimes I like to start threads on a topic to see if I'm just weird about these things and wondering how other writers deal with or go about things.

 

I write for myself and for the audience that would like my work. I've tried for many, many years to find a world like the one I'm creating, so that I could immerse myself in its fiction. But I've found none. So I had to make it myself. I love the universe that I have created, it's full of exploration and wonderous things. It has all the bits of imagination that I like. It is full of creative possibility.

I'm not afraid of publishing it, or what a potential reader/audience member might think. I'm more excited for all that than anything else. Perhaps I will get called a phony hack who has smashed together a bunch of genres/ideas and with crappy execution. Well, that would be sad. But I hope there will be at least some who might appreciate what I've created. And that will be my audience.

My thoughts is that publishing is similar to love, in the regard that if you never tell your crush you love them, they will never be able to tell you no and crush your heart. But if you try and succeed, you will be in a sort of paradise. If you never try, you will never know for sure.

 

It means the story should be something I would want to read, or find compelling or fascinating. Something I would enjoy. In fact, if it isn't I don't think I'd even care to finish writing it. I couldn't put enough of myself into it. That would be like eating a meal I don't like. And that's something I would only do if I had to, like if I hadn't eaten for days and somebody offered me something I really don't care for. And even then I'd have to choke it down. I don't think I could make my writing flow nicely if I was writing things I don't care for. I need to be invested in it. You do things very differently when you enjoy (or love) what you're doing, rather than being forced to do something you really don't want to do.

I suspect when you say you write for other people, what you mean is you write things they would like that are still within the boundaries of what you like to write (and would like to read). That overlapping venn diagram thing:



With for instance A being what you like to read or write, and B being what you know your editor likes. You'll probably try to write mostly inside of that overlap zone where you both like it. If you stray outside of it, into the part he likes but you don't, I think you'd find it very hard to write well, or even to write at all.

 

I don't think this has anything to do with writing or caring about what someone is writing. And I see no connection between writing something someone doesn't want to write and getting published. It really doesn't work that way. Of course, every writer cares about what they write and wants to write about whatever they are writing about. Yes, we all want to do a good job. I was just wondering more so about who or what people are thinking in terms of audience while writing. Maybe it's just me, but it has helped me along the way to focus on one person or place reading it, but that person has never been myself. I don't want to be writing in a vacuum.

 

Good question!
I write for readers and stories (or poetry) they can relate to.

When I write, I have a particular audience in mind. For example, I write romance... love stories... not erotica. I write slice-of-life flash fiction or short stories. RL, not fantasy or SciFi. I write in the style I prefer to read.

Sounds like you have found your creative niche and a universe in which you can lose yourself. For me writing is also a form of escapism.

Exactly. Sometimes we are prisoners of our own anxiety. If you're not in you ain't gonna win. Be brave LoL
I was terrified when we published our first book... and I mean terrified. We picked up a troll ... hours after publishing with a 1* review and I went and hid LoL then I thought about it logically. No way could they have read 120,000 words in the timeframe. But once the 5* reviews came rolling in it changed everything and spurred me on.

 

I used to write a monthly column for an expat website. I hated it as much as I hated the thought of eating snails or oysters.

Eta. It is the same with writing prompts. I can't write for the sake of writing

 

You asked what it means to write for yourself, so I told you. Sorry if you don't like the answer. I don't think the things you said just above have anything to do with what I just said, so how do you like that?

Then they're writing for themselves, and quite likely also trying to write what other people will enjoy. How else would you do that?

And you also asked what it means to write for yourself. Maybe you forgot that part? I was answering that one.

 

@Xoic -- I was just looking to have a dialog and discussion. Not looking to piss you off. Nothing I said was meant to upset you.

 

And that's what we're doing.

 

I write for people like myself, mainly in the realm of subject matter and plot. I like being able to slowly piece together details as a narrative progresses and allegories, so I write with that in mind.

 

Good question. Who do I write for? I'm not sure, except to say it is somebody "out there." I want to be read. I want to connect. I want someone to be moved by the words I have written.

When "writing for myself" a writer must guard against being self-indulgent. I understand that writing, to a certain extent, is a self-indulgent activity. We indulge our creativity, our imagination, and our need for expression. But all must serve the story. Plot and character must take precedence over a writer's ego. An example of this would be a writer who refuses to "kill their darlings" even though they do not serve the story.

I've always considered writing an act of sharing. So I suppose I am one who writes for the reader.

 

I don't write for agents or publishers, but I do try to avoid things I'm told they hate. I don't just write for myself either. I plan to do this for a living, God willing. Whatever the goal, though, I think we all have an ideal reader in mind, even if they're a nebulous figment of our imagination representing a particular breed of potential future reader. Most of us, I would guess, are writing for an intellectual doppelganger out there somewhere, a person who thinks like we do and shares our precise tastes. I know I am most of the time. Some people are lucky and know their ideal reader personally. Stephen King talks about IR's in On Writing, and says his is his wife, Tabitha. She beta reads everything for him, and he says he trusts her judgement implicitly. Must be nice.

I want to be a published author, and I think I have a shot (if I'll get over myself and start querying this thing,) so of course I consider the audience's tastes to a degree. Sometimes it's on my mind when I write the R-rated bits (sex, violence, etc.) or anything emotionally upsetting. I write some dark shit sometimes. I don't want to go too far and alienate too many readers, but to some degree, I also think fuck 'em. I'd rather alienate a certain portion of potential readers than wimp out and water it down. There's a natural edge to my stories, and I like that. I also enjoy shocking people to some extent. I just don't want to cross the line and ruin it.

I think about the reason my mom refused to read another Stephen King book after Cujo.

Spoiler: Major spoiler

She couldn't handle it when the kid didn't make it.

That isn't R-rated, but it's dark as hell. My mom's not even all that sensitive about most stuff, but that ruined it for her. Fortunately for Stephen King, he's doing just fine without my mother's patronage, which is worth thinking about when it comes to dropping some of your readers. Can you afford to take the dent? I wonder what she's going to think of my current WIP. It features similarly upsetting events. That's the story I want to tell, though, so oh well, I guess. What are you gonna do? If she and my other beta readers all tell me to tone it down, though, I'll definitely consider it. I'm not too worried about that at present. My alpha reader loves the first two acts and uses phrases like "dark, mad genius." I don't believe the genius part for a second, but it's nice to have a cheerleader at this stage of the process, right?

 

I tend to just start writing and see what develops. I guess, I think that whoever likes my work will read it, whoever doesn't, won't. Maybe I need to consider a target audience?
At the moment I am purely writing to submit my work to the contests on this forum, as well as the workshop, so that I can improve my skills and refine my writing technique. If I were to start submitting my work for publishing, then I would definitely consider the publisher's target audience and what would be most appealing to them. This would also influence the choice of language and certain scenes.

 

I generally write fiction to entertain myself and non-fiction to suit whatever audience gyrates toward a particular kind of magazine, op-ed article, column, etc.

 

I say the darker the better. Maybe I'm your ideal reader.

 

Careful. I might hit you up for a beta read, lol

 

My novel is pretty dark. I went deep into my worst fears, and the most awful things happen to my characters. I think it's a pretty good story, but it's not in good enough shape to show anyone just yet. However, do keep me in mind when you're looking for a beta. We could, perhaps, do a swap or something. I would really like that if you're up to it.

 

There is some marketing on the storygrid site, but this video talks about reader focus for authors.

The Importance of SAM

 

I started writing for catharsis. I had been through a lot in my life that called for a considerable amount of venting. I am now aware that this is part of a pretty popular genre called memoir. I workshopped a piece on here a while ago called Work Related PTSD. The work I did was technical and a lot of the comments I got was that the technical details were hard to follow. It did have a lot of vernacular specific details. This tells me now how much the writing was for myself. I wish a larger audience was interested in those technical details. I did try to write it in ways that made the technical details accessible to those not well versed in the field I worked in, mechanical design. The impression I got was that the details were not interesting to most people. I don't know how to tell the story of that particular trauma without those details.

Edit. I suspect an audience for my work would be drawn to hard SF, and the works of Tom Clancy, which are not generally regarded as SF, but have some pretty well informed hard science/technology. My educational background in in Mechanical Engineering.

 

I think it's simpler than people think... or maybe not. I don't know for sure because I haven't tested my appeal unlike the many successful people here.

We assume our own personal taste is niche, but the human condition is more universal than not.

I write for myself because since I'm merely human there are many people with my tastes. The darlings still have to die because they are cringeworthy even to the self in retrospect. I think Mr. Venn fully encapsulates my taste and my muse reader. There's no conflict.

Sure, you could have success writing harlequin number paints that you yourself hate, but if you wrote romances your way and subject to the changes you think they should have, you'd be even more successful and a trend-setter at that. Other people are thinking the same things as you. Genre bounds are for minimum viable content and production workflow, not maximums.

Short answer is writing for the scrupulous self is the same as writing for the audience.

 

its a hobby of mine wrting always was been i write for my self as hobby a creative outlet

 

I write for myself and people like me. To be satisfied in the product of my work, to help people like me feel seen and connected, to share all the little guys who live in my head with people who I know will appreciate them.
I find inevitably whatever I create is a reflection of myself in one way or another, so when I write it’s as much self-exploration and fulfillment as it is product creation.