At a recent poetry reading I gave, I was asked if I wrote for a particular ideal reader, something I hadn’t given much thought to. So here is my response to that question, though I’m sure other writers will approach it differently.
When I’m writing non-fiction, which usually takes the essay form, I have to constantly think about what my reader needs to know in order to follow whatever point I’m trying to make. I also must present adequate support for my ideas that include convincing, concrete details. Being constantly aware of whom you’re addressing as a writer is a fundamental rhetorical device that I learned from teaching incoming freshmen/women for many years. Our imagined audience can determine the direction of our prose.
If I’m writing fiction or poetry, I also must keep in mind how a reader might receive a scene or line of poetry. What clarifications do I need to include? Have I given enough descriptive detail to make a setting or character come alive? Can the images be sharpened or intensified? Will the dialogue make sense to the average, literate reader? Have I made clear what’s driving the characters?
But most of these questions surface in the revision stage. As I’m writing a first draft, I don’t want to consider for a minute who might read my work unless I want to totally shut myself down. I just want to focus on the material and let it bloom in whatever way that feels natural to it. I agree with Ursula LeGuin’s belief that “Every story must make its own rules and the writer should obey them.” If I were focused on what a particular reader might feel or think about the content, I would inhibit myself and write derivative prose.
So while I do have readers in mind as I work, I don’t write for a particular reader, for an ideal reader. That would undermine the purpose of what I’m doing. I write for most literate readers. That’s my audience . While I don’t have a specialized audience in mind, my material demands some sophistication from those who read it. I assume that if someone has chosen to read anything I’ve published, s/he has the skills to enter into the world I’m creating with the words I choose. And I welcome all of you, including those who have read this post!
4 thoughts on “Do writers have particular readers in mind?”
I wrote mysteries for publication (didn’t find it; books still out there – maybe some day).
But I started Pride’s Children for myself, because I had the question: can I make this plausible, and write it so it’s believable? Because cast and story came as a unit, vouchsafed to ME only.
I had a lot to learn about writing back then (2000), but never thought it would turn into a whole quest.
Why me? Because I had to be a particular kind of close with one of the main characters. A particular kind of obsession/betrayal/love I had envisioned.
It’s been remarkably steady in intent and aim.
Hurray!
Hi Lily, you posed the question about writing for readers. In my case I’m a believer in writers writing for themselves. I follow up whatever idea comes into my mind. It mostly find my mind like the idea of criminal activity, so I write crime novels. Every now and then I get a completely different idea. I’ve written about the outback, about the Great Fire of London (1666) but crime presents itself more often than not. I would imagine if you attempt to write for a specific readership you would need to research the level of readership available for the story idea you have in mind. If that’s where your interest lies, I hope you make a success of it.
The crimereadersbookcase.
I like your approach. Thanks for sharing it!