Audience
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Do you think about your audience as you write?  Do you write simply for the story and characters, following where they take you?  Maybe your approach is somewhere in between. 

 

It was brought to my attention recently that my work fits perfectly into the YA category.  When you hear this from a high school teacher it means a lot more.

I tend to write from the perspective of a viewer.  I see the story and characters unfolding and acting within my mind's eye.  I am the observer of that world and record what I see.  I typically think that I'm writing for adults or any young people intellectually and emotionally mature enough to grasp the concepts. This new revelation has given me a different perspective on my work.

 

How do you relate to your audience as you write?

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  • I totally agree.  If it feels good to you, you're passionate about it, methodical and truly emmersed in the telling, then that will shine through the work to the reader.  You must care about and love what you're writing before anyone else can.
  • What an interesting discussion! Man, this brings back memories. Since back when I was a precocious teenager, "write with your audience in mind" was probably the first advice from my parents that I ignored.

     

    But now that I've grown older and wiser, I'm actually at a loss of how I feel about my audience! Thought to be fair, I think I enjoy studying the trends of culture just so I can subvert a lot of audience expectations. But then a gain, lately I feel that subverting audience expectations in media has long since been spoken for, especially as of late, for some reason. But still, I think it's good to learn the rules of what your audience wants (or thinks they want) before writing anything for them.

     

    That being said, I think what matters most is just giving your all to what you know, in your heart of hearts, to be good. They'll always be the temptation to use something everyone's doing, or use a cheap way to get audiences to care about what you're writing. I can understand, since so much as writing a short story is like trying to hold a freight train together while its already chugging at full speed. But if you really put your all into writing something good, really, truly, sincerely, down to every detail you can manage without going insane, I think you'll be on your way. Because whether someone wants new or conventional, most everyone wants something good.

  • That is the power of a writing group.  A fresh pair of eyes always see our work more clearly than we can.  We're too entrenched to recognize what are often simple adjustments.  I'm glad the work is coming easier.  Keep it up!

     

    The Universe does have a way of giving us what we need but we have to be brave enough to reach out and take it.  Kodus to you on taking the leap.  I'm a firm believer that the amount of work you put into something will be repaid--there is always balance.  It might not be in the shape you expected but it always come back.  So whatever it is, in our case writing and publishing, keep it at and it will pay off.

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    Great question! It was pointed out to me that sometimes when an audience is 'targeted' there is 50/50 chance the writer could be spot on OR off. So to my way of thinking, just let the story flow and it'll find its niche. I've been struggling to finish a story that I thought was targeted to a specific audience. I'm having trouble w/ POV. After a meeting yesterday w/a fellow writer, the sugguestion was simply to write the story...duh...now I know that sounds really simple but I realize that in order to get this story out, my pov has to change from 3rd person to 1st. When I did that w/the rewriting the begining, it actually felt more natural. Now I can't wait to get to work on it again. My writer's block is begining to crumble w/a simple directive and pair of eyes from another writer. Thanks Universe!!!!