Selective audience?

[Nick Blaze]

When writing my novel, the last thing I thought was who I should be writing this for. And, in my opinion, selling a novel so that many people read it is less important than writing a book that a few truly enjoy (quality > quantity argument). However, presuming I have the talent to write great prose, poetry, or storylines is ridiculous.

But I wrote anyway. I spent a good year writing it and currently now another two years editing. The hardest part is not finding typographical errors or grammatical mistakes, but in finding the subtle plot holes. There are, as far as I can tell, no major plot holes. But simple things such as leaving a sword behind and then drawing it later plague chapters. Even though I drew outlines, the outlines never specify such small details to cover.

My interests in books are primarily in classics, with Gene Wolfe being one of the few exceptions. And to limit it more, Chinese and Norse classics (such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chin Ping Mei, and Egil's Saga). So when writing my novel, the audience was minimized.

It has over 100 characters. Most of them are well-developed and I tried my best to keep the plot focusing on only a few at a time so that it was paced well. Of course, there are two main characters it primarily focuses on. However, the plot is very in-depth and it would easily take a second read-through to get some of the smaller plotpoints and connect them. On top of that, it has many allusions to other novels, poems, and myths.

So when it comes down to the final product, which is not watered-down one bit, it turned into a very lengthy (half a million words) novel that is marketed for a very few select people who enjoy the classics but also appreciate some contemporary literature, and especially storytelling. I'm more than happy to hopefully find those people who will praise the work I put into my novel, even if everybody else thinks it is too lengthy, poor developed, too confusing, or what have you.

What about you? Did you have a specific audience in mind when writing? How did the final product turn out if you did? If you did not, then just what kind of audience did you end up with?

[Cliff Face]

Writing my first MS I focussed on my literary voice above the audience, but from time to time I'd think of the audience.

I don't think that really helped much because I was basically thinking things like, "Would fans of Terry Pratchett find this funny?" which is a little ham handed. It's either funny for its own reasons or it isn't, and has nothing to do with thinking about Pratchett's fans.

That said, being hyper-critical gave me some of my preferred lines (lines I'd fight to keep in during editing) - but it came at the price of changing the literary voice over time, and made the book a little bit of this and a little bit of that - a serious problem that needs correcting.

That said, I haven't been published (or edited properly yet) so take my story with a grain of salt.

I think the thing to watch out for is either trying to latch onto somebody else's audience, or trying to please everyone, which isn't going to work. Once I rewrite my MS I'm going to try and not picture any audience, and just write what pleases me (and adheres to editor's notes once I get one).

[backslashbaby]

My audience is probably limited, and I'm cool with that. That said, one of my goals is what I call 'accessible Magical Realism'. I love the classics of that genre, but they can be too...well something ;) for many readers. I'm not exactly striving for literary writing, depending on how you define it.

But the whole idea and how it comes together might not be everyone's cup of tea. Maybe you have to like the sorts of things I like to enjoy it. I think many authors would do it a different way.

I'm looking for something that would really please me. So that's what I'm doing! There's some strange stuff out there, so maybe I'm being hard on how many folks will like mine, but I'm OK with it if it's not everyone's thing.

Good luck!

[Nick Blaze]

I'm looking for something that would really please me. So that's what I'm doing! There's some strange stuff out there, so maybe I'm being hard on how many folks will like mine, but I'm OK with it if it's not everyone's thing.
Good luck!
I wrote my novel because I enjoyed writing it, but I admit, it is geared more towards myself than it is a general audience. Does this mean, ten years down the road, we can both sit back and read our own novels and be moved to tears? I hope so.

Thanks for the luck. I'm sure I will need it.

[blacbird]

I've always tried to write for an imaginary audience, one that likes to read what I like to read.

I've come to realize that I'm pretty weird in that respect, and that the imaginary audience therefore doesn't exist.

Which leaves me in the cold, with not a damn clue who to write for.

caw

[James D. Macdonald]

Which leaves me in the cold, with not a damn clue who to write for.



Write for yourself.

[Mumut]

Write for yourself.
That's what I have done and I'm lucky that a large number of people enjoy the same sort of story.

[Lifelongdagger]

I started with a voice in my head. Kept writing until all there was was this voice and ended up after six months with a completed manuscript. When I look back now, it all seems a bit hazy. Sort of like I can't place myself anywhere inside that time. Now two agents have request fulls, and I'm not quite sure how it's happened.

So, as for an audience, well, it sort of never really occurred to me at the time that it was a book I was writing. If that makes any sense.

[Telstar]

I've always tried to write for an imaginary audience, one that likes to read what I like to read.

Me too.
The above sentence can be rephrased in writing for the reader in you :)
That's how i describe it.

[Telstar]

So when it comes down to the final product, which is not watered-down one bit, it turned into a very lengthy (half a million words) novel that is marketed for a very few select people who enjoy the classics but also appreciate some contemporary literature, and especially storytelling.

Do you think you can split in a trilogy? Otherwise i see no selling potential for a new writer.

[KiraOnWhite]

I mainly write for myself, but that's because I don't really aim to be published. However, I think for those aiming for publication, it's a good idea to keep the target audience in mind, maybe while doing up the second draft.

For example, if it's for children, I think there are certain guidelines to follow regarding content and language. And when tackling sensitive issues, I think it's best to write it so that the potential readers would be so put off that they abandon the whole story altogether.

[Nick Blaze]

Do you think you can split in a trilogy? Otherwise i see no selling potential for a new writer.

I was thinking of splitting it into two books. In a 6x9 book format, that's about 500-600 pages each. Is that still too large?

Also, Kira brings up a good point with children's books.

[James D. Macdonald]

Is that still too large?


Yes.

[RG570]

I wrote a couple of novels with an audience in mind.

They are the worst things I've ever written.

I found a niche for the stuff I really wanted to write. It might be small, but it exists. If I can find a niche, being idiosyncratic, contrarian, and politically unpopular, anyone can.

That's no guarantee they'll end up buying it, but at least they're interested in looking at it. You just have to do more digging than most people are willing to do.

[LuckyH]

70% of books are purchased by women aged between 35 and 55. Those are sobering facts but how do they affect a writer? I maintain that you have to bear that in mind when writing for yourself, which I agree with, and which is what I do.


In consequence I write for myself, but when I get too carried away I try to think what those women would make of my indulgences. Do I really want to upset such a large market? Does it inhibit my writing?


I haven't got a clue.

[SarahMacManus]

I write for myself. But I happen to be a woman between the ages of 35 and 55, so it works out for me.

(I'm pretty discriminating, though)

[ishtar'sgate]

[QUOTE=Nick Blaze;4078520
What about you? Did you have a specific audience in mind when writing? How did the final product turn out if you did? If you did not, then just what kind of audience did you end up with?[/QUOTE]

No, I had no specific market in mind. I just hoped someone would enjoy reading my historical novel.:)However, my publisher seemd to feel it bridged adult and young adult markets so if I look for it in book stores and libraries I find it in both sections.

[ChaosTitan]

First and foremost, I write for myself. And as others have said up-thread, I'm lucky to have found other people who enjoy the same kind of story. But it took a while to write that story. Some of my early, trunked novels might be just a little too different to ever be published.

[donroc]

I get a story or character I have to write and let the process unfold. During the rewriting, I try to be the reader. Who is it? Someone like myself because I cannot presume to get into the head of anyone else. After that, I rely on my Beta, who is not a writer but someone who has been a voracious reader of everything from the classics, through mainstream fiction to Harlequin romances since childhood.

[Idkwiaowiw]

I'm too much of a pleaser person to write for a specific audience. My goal is just to write the story I set out to write. If people like it, great. If not, too bad. I know it's not a suggested method, but it's the only one that works for me.

[angeliz2k]

I write for myself first and foremost because it's not my job, it's a hobby that may pay dividends down the road.

That being said, keeping an audience in mind helped me break out of a shell I'd been in. When I took creative writing classes, I began to think about how other people would view my work, and it spurred me on to do better. If you aim to please ONLY yourself (and you keep yourself locked inside your own likes/dislikes), then you will probably end up pleasing ONLY yourself. It's just so easy to delude yourself.

[oswann]

I think it's vital to write to be read. To be read by someone. Anyone at all, but someone.

Os.

[Wordwrestler]

Some stories I write for myself, others for the people I love. I've never tried to write for people I don't know or for a "block" of the population.