There is a question in writing and creativity on who it is that the artist is creating for. Should the artist create for themselves, or should they create for others? Reasons for both abound. But which is best?
I’ve thought about this question a lot after hitting another wall in my writing. Days of non-writing turned into weeks and months as I struggled to figure out why the projects I worked on went to shit, why I was so willing to dump large volumes of word count. It seemed like a waste, but if I wasn’t happy with what I wrote, is it a waste?
When I started on this whole writing journey, where I decided writing was my purpose (or at the very least, my passion), much of my writing was for myself. What I put on paper was strictly what I wanted to see. Was I sensitive to what others thought? Yes. Still, the effort remained all for my purpose.
Like many others, the idea of making writing my career grew in my mind. Imagine if I could write what I want, when I want, and make money doing it! Unfortunately, it is difficult to do.
We’ll say that the easy way is to write for an audience. Find what people want and write that. Marketing comes in later, but if the writer fails to provide at least the basics of what the customer wants, then what point is the marketing?
The stereotype of those who are strictly market driven are those who write whatever is popular at the moment. Zombies are in? Then it’s a zombie story. Teen dystopia? Then that is it. Realistically, it is sometimes more simply someone who is stuck writing in a genre because that is where they might have found success. Or it is someone who has a passion for genre A, however they find it exceedingly rare and niche.
Conversely, the stereotype for the person who writes only for themselves is one who writes obscure nonsense that few ever understand. Again, more likely, it is someone who writes (as an example) a romantic scifi because they enjoy it rather than the popular historical mystery that is so in vogue.
To a point, this doesn’t mean the audience is completely ignored. No. Artists (as writers are) want to connect with others. Those “others” are what one would call an audience. There’s a difference between authentic connection and pandering, though — not that those who write with the audience in the front of their mind are necessarily pandering. Authentic connection, however, is when one is completely open and honest as to who they are and find connection in that way.
Me? I oscillate on what I do. What I found is I tend to be happier and more in tune with my writing when I do what I want and ignore the audience. In more recent times, it translates to having several projects go sour because of the exact reason of my not writing it how I want to. I focused too much on the idea of the audience rather than being true to me. It’s then the thought occurred to me when realizing my preference is that no matter what, the writer should write for themselves first. If the writer is (or more directly, if I am) not writing for themselves at first, then nothing else in the story will be honest. That is where I took that left turn at Albuquerque. I wasn’t writing for me anymore.
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