Write for yourself. Now I get it!!!!!

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BlueLucario

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Hhehe. It's an observation. I was critiquing and found some useless detail on this writer's piece. I pointed out, the "The lifeguard's buttocks and breasts bounced as she pranced across the sandy beach. It reminded me of baywatch." Three paragraphs of it.:cry: Or the ominous red box at the bakery. And when I pointed that out. She said that she wanted to give the readers a visual. I was like oh okay!


And when I critiqued it, I begun to realize something. The saying, "Write for yourself!" After writing scenes of my story, because I felt compelled to write it. I was being taken over. And after I wrote it, something about it made me feel icky so I posted it here. I calmed down after hearing that most of you enjoyed it. A lot of the readers enjoyed it. Which compelled me to write more. And when I wrote the next chapter, for the reader's satisfaction, which did not turn out well, and after a critter pointed out that my character turned out to be wooden puppets. Reading it, I found that he was right. I was so mad! I wanted to go back and edit it so badly, but I had to finish the book first. I was too concerned about my readers.


And now. I begun to realize that I should write for me and not for the readers to like. I really wanted to make the best book out there, beat J.K Rowling one day or rival Stephen King and Dan Brown. Have movies made out of my book, have lots of fans make fanfiction out of it, have lots of interviews. Have toys and action figures. (Depressed. *Sigh* I have to dream!) Regardless, I have to write for myself, because if I write the story for the sake of the readers it's going to read out as awkward. THey won't like it. (Ironic, isn't it?) I leaned a lot from that and hope to finish my book by November, when I plan to start college.

That is all. (Sorry, I just had something to say.)

I had a feeling there's an exception to this.
.
 

ishtar'sgate

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Yeah, well, this is the place to say it:D A writer can't write for the reader in a selfconcious sense, where they censor what they write in light of who will read their work. You will also find out that the reading public is not all the same. You WON'T please everyone, so don't even try.
Linnea
 

Jeremy

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That’s really what it boils down to, in my opinion. Write what you would want to read and follow your gut.

That being said, it never hurts listen to others in the sense of avoiding problems like clichés or aspects of ones writing that hinder the portrayal of the story to the reader.
 

maestrowork

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Congrats on your epiphany. :)

But you only get one part of the equation. Write for yourself, yes, but do keep your potential readers in mind. Clearly writing to please someone you've never met before is a risky business, but to be completely self-absorbed about it isn't a way to go either. There is a balance somewhere.
 

BlueLucario

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Congrats on your epiphany. :)

But you only get one part of the equation. Write for yourself, yes, but do keep your potential readers in mind. Clearly writing to please someone you've never met before is a risky business, but to be completely self-absorbed about it isn't a way to go either. There is a balance somewhere.


If only I knew who my potential readers could be. I said, anyone who reads it.
 

SPMiller

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Um, I dunno about you, but stories that come from my heart are not stories people want to read.
 

grrrrrshon

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I'd rather read what an author has to say rather than what an author feels they have to say. All great authors have their own 'voices' and styles, and it makes their books remarkable when compared to mediocre writers.
 

Greenwolf103

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If only I knew who my potential readers could be. I said, anyone who reads it.

You really do have to narrow it down, though, at some point. Figure out who will read your book. Single twenty-somethings? Fans of LOTR? This is the audience you'll need to keep in mind. It won't help to just say, "It's for everyone to read."
 

LaceWing

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So, Blue, what is anime for? It's like three generations too advanced for an old hippie like me. I could use a clue if you got one!
 

Jordygirl

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I once read some writing advice that said to write with a very specific audience in mind. In fact, to write with one particular person in mind as your audience.
 

BlueLucario

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So, Blue, what is anime for? It's like three generations too advanced for an old hippie like me. I could use a clue if you got one!

What's anime for? Or what's anime?

I didn't mean to write the story with the anime theme. I was told that it was read like watching anime shows or reading manga(graphic novels)
 

LaceWing

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feathers, my inner geek, after years of programming, was slaughtered by a few years of (kind of) taking philosophy seriously. I do recall the geek mindset, fondly at times.


Blue, thx for the clarification.

An epiphany is like when you get a new pair of glasses, and see the cobwebs "as if for the first time" for the first time. At least, that's what's in my dictionary. Google may disagree. James Joyce might have agreed.
 

BlueLucario

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Thanks Lacewing! U'm slow with the words sorry.

I guess this epitaph is what happens if you obsessively think so much about your own writing.
 

Birol

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That's a good question right now.
An epiphany is that moment of clarity when something makes perfect sense, when you "get it," not just logically, not just in your head, but you feel it with your very being. It's the "A-ha!" moment. An epiphany is what happens when someone yells, "Eureka!" It's what Newton had when he saw the apple fall and said, "Oh! Gee. There's an invisible force called gravity that keeps us and everything else on the planet. Why didn't I, or anyone else, ever see this before? It's so simple." Even when it's not simple at all.

Well, thanks. I keep obsessively thinking about my own story and my ideas.

We all do, Blue. We all do.
 

miles

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Interesting. I'm opposite. I used to write for myself; the kind of stories I'd love to read. It wasn't until I learned to write with my potential audience in mind that I got published and got an agent.

But whatever works for you.
 

Lyra Jean

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I'm writing for people who like stories with a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits theme going on. Technically it's fantasy but more often it's just weird.

Actually I'm really hoping my dad will love my work. Not that he hates it or doesn't think I can get published but he's the one person audience in my head.
 
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