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[Writing] Who Am I Writing For?
Jan. 24th, 2012 11:48 amHarry Connolly (aka ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
burger_eater), author of the Twenty Palaces books I'm currently reading, had an interesting post the other day regarding writing for a specific audience, and it got me thinking about the same thing: Who am I writing for? Who is the audience?
As I'd mentioned in my response to his post, I think a lot of us writer n00bs tend not to think about such things right away...at that point in the game, we're too busy thinking I just wanna get published! and not much else. Maybe, just maybe, we take it a bit further and say I want to publish a science fiction/fantasy/litfic/urban fantasy story because I think it's a neat idea. It's a start, and it's part of the whole writing/publishing experience, but there's more to it than that.
In the barest of terms of why I write certain things: I wrote the Eden Cycle trilogy because I wanted to create a world the alien visitors were actually our distant relations and how that would affect Earth's society. I originally wrote Love Like Blood because I wanted to write an urban fantasy that didn't take itself way too seriously. I'm writing Angela Death because I want to write a YA book about teenagers coming into their magical abilities in a world where magic is the norm. I'm writing The Children of Dun Corran because I want to write a magic-based story set in an enclosed tribal society. And of course, I'm writing Walk in Silence because there's very few books on the "college rock" scene and there's a bajillion books out there about punk and other alt.rock scenes.
Which is all fine and good. I have reasons to write these books "because it's a neat idea". Don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing that as a lame excuse, but why else am I writing them? In fact, WiS is probably the closest in what I'm trying to get at here--the other books are about something I'd like to write about, but WiS is because I want to share my story about one of my obsessions that I think is worth sharing with an audience of other alt.rock obsessives.
So again...who am I writing for? Is there anyone in particular, or even a general audience, that I'm targeting? I mean, aside from your normal everyday reader? It's not something I've actively thought about for a length of time, and I think that's partly because I'm thinking of too wide a margin. Is the Eden Cycle aimed at anyone in particular, other than an audience who would be interested in the differences and similarities of two separate societies?
Asemmalyon said to me when critting Love Like Blood a few years back, the problem there was that I was trying too hard, and it fell flat more often than not. What I thought was funny and jokey, she thought was a bit too flippant and "funny only to me". I understood what she meant, but at the same time, it's taken me awhile to really understand what she meant by that. And I know exactly where the problem lies--I'm still stuck in the mindset of writing for myself first, and hoping everyone else gets it. It's good that I see that, but it's something I still need to actively remember.
Perhaps it's something to think about further. I'm not about to dismiss any of these stories as wastes of time now because they're not for anyone in particular, mind you--it's more that maybe it's time that I narrow down my focus while I revise. I should still write for myself so that I can infuse some spirit into it, but I should also keep in mind that if these are to be published, I'm writing for potential readers as well. Figuring out who those readers are and how they would take it in is the hard part, but it's a vital one.
burger_eater), author of the Twenty Palaces books I'm currently reading, had an interesting post the other day regarding writing for a specific audience, and it got me thinking about the same thing: Who am I writing for? Who is the audience?As I'd mentioned in my response to his post, I think a lot of us writer n00bs tend not to think about such things right away...at that point in the game, we're too busy thinking I just wanna get published! and not much else. Maybe, just maybe, we take it a bit further and say I want to publish a science fiction/fantasy/litfic/urban fantasy story because I think it's a neat idea. It's a start, and it's part of the whole writing/publishing experience, but there's more to it than that.
In the barest of terms of why I write certain things: I wrote the Eden Cycle trilogy because I wanted to create a world the alien visitors were actually our distant relations and how that would affect Earth's society. I originally wrote Love Like Blood because I wanted to write an urban fantasy that didn't take itself way too seriously. I'm writing Angela Death because I want to write a YA book about teenagers coming into their magical abilities in a world where magic is the norm. I'm writing The Children of Dun Corran because I want to write a magic-based story set in an enclosed tribal society. And of course, I'm writing Walk in Silence because there's very few books on the "college rock" scene and there's a bajillion books out there about punk and other alt.rock scenes.
Which is all fine and good. I have reasons to write these books "because it's a neat idea". Don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing that as a lame excuse, but why else am I writing them? In fact, WiS is probably the closest in what I'm trying to get at here--the other books are about something I'd like to write about, but WiS is because I want to share my story about one of my obsessions that I think is worth sharing with an audience of other alt.rock obsessives.
So again...who am I writing for? Is there anyone in particular, or even a general audience, that I'm targeting? I mean, aside from your normal everyday reader? It's not something I've actively thought about for a length of time, and I think that's partly because I'm thinking of too wide a margin. Is the Eden Cycle aimed at anyone in particular, other than an audience who would be interested in the differences and similarities of two separate societies?
As
emmalyon said to me when critting Love Like Blood a few years back, the problem there was that I was trying too hard, and it fell flat more often than not. What I thought was funny and jokey, she thought was a bit too flippant and "funny only to me". I understood what she meant, but at the same time, it's taken me awhile to really understand what she meant by that. And I know exactly where the problem lies--I'm still stuck in the mindset of writing for myself first, and hoping everyone else gets it. It's good that I see that, but it's something I still need to actively remember.Perhaps it's something to think about further. I'm not about to dismiss any of these stories as wastes of time now because they're not for anyone in particular, mind you--it's more that maybe it's time that I narrow down my focus while I revise. I should still write for myself so that I can infuse some spirit into it, but I should also keep in mind that if these are to be published, I'm writing for potential readers as well. Figuring out who those readers are and how they would take it in is the hard part, but it's a vital one.
