Who Are You Writing FOR?
Who told you to write for yourself, and what does that mean to you?
Let me be clear. I am writing because of you.
If my words can encourage you to write harder, longer, to take more risks, to dig deeper, to cast the net wider, to reconsider the meaning of life, to suspect your husband of caring more than he seems to, to fall in love with your wife all over again, to surprise you with the revelation that UFOs are aliens, if I can do all of those things, my fifteen years building these absurd callouses on my fingers have not been wasted.
Write for Who?
Whoever told you to write for yourself, they already quit. Long ago they decided it was too hard to attract readers, to labor over how to connect with hearts, to figure out what really mattered saying. They are trying to crumble your narrative. Because if they fail and you succeed, it means you’re better than them.
You know they’ve got in your head too deep for comfort if you just read the phrase “better than them” and withdrew. Who told you it was bad to compare yourself to others?
Not the New York Times Bestseller list, not the Super Bowl. Not the Oscars. Not the Grammy’s. In the words of Katie Holmes circa Batman Begins, “It’s not who you are underneath but what you do that defines you.”
“Because” Vs. “For”
Do you write because of yourself or for yourself?
If you’re writing because of yourself, you’re affirming your identity and stepping into the warmth of your purpose. If, however, you’re writing for yourself you are turning your back on readers, their enjoyment be damned.
So let me ask, do you want people to read your writing? Do you hope to entertain, challenge, inspire, empower, scare, delight, humor, impassion or surprise people you’ve never met? If you answered yes, you write because of people.
And if you write because of people, you should be proud of yourself. It’s a noble and vulnerable pursuit to connect with the mind, emotion, spirit, and body of a writer. Your generosity will change lives. You might even change the world.
If you write for yourself, I have little to say to you. Stop being selfish, and stop, I beg you, stop trying to shame others because you quit long ago. Go away.
My book, The Seven-Figure Marketing Mindset For Novelists is for any novelist who is tired of feeling uncertain, confused, scared, and defeated by marketing. After you’ve read it, you’ll have concrete steps to follow that will help you reach a million readers.
I wouldn't add anything to this, and I'm grateful for you adding your flavor the the post. The big transformation I crave for the writing community is to embrace that it is good to write for readers.
From a philosophical perspective, I believe it's impossible to do anything that isn't FOR ourselves. Even Mother Teresa found gratification in her service. But somehow the modern message pushed by the loudest messengers is that it's more art if you don't "think about what readers want to write," and when you don't care about money.
Those behaviors and lies fire me up!
I don't see why you can’t write for both. I might even argue that you should write for yourself and the reader.
If I write only for the reader, I sound flat and lack the vehemence necessary to make the reader—or myself—believe in what I am saying, the story, the characters, the brand and the product.
I write fiction foremost because it allows me to explore human behavior and myself. Not to mention I enjoy well-structured sentences, snappy dialogue and the intricacies of turning phrases. Beyond that, I want to share with the world what I know and what I don't. I want to propose questions not often asked. I want to inspire readers, indulge them, and whirl them through unexpected paroxysms of emotions unfamiliar to them.
None of this is possible—for me—if I don't also write for myself. Everybody's different.
However, writing copy and blogs is a different game. Then I am merely an instrument in connecting people to brands and products, and the most important aspect here is the audience.