You
may be right to take the title of this post two ways. The first is asking about
the imaginary audience for one’s words and stories. The second is a ballsy/HUTZPA,
more a challenge than a question, as in— who you imagine is even reading
what you write. 😝
I
will ignore the second, because it’s rude and also fruitless. Whether it is two,
twenty, two thousand or twenty thousand, when writing-- we just can’t know. It
isn’t helpful to creative motivation.
But
the first is relevant.
When
I was twelve, I began writing a diary. Diaries, so many say, are for oneself
only. Mine wasn’t. I addressed all entries to one specific person who was
unlikely to ever read them, but I needed to see this person in my mind when I
wrote.
Later,
in my teens, I always had a person in mind when I wrote a story. But the
person changed from story to story.
When
I began writing in earnest in my late thirties, I visualized no one. It became
clear to me that the person I wrote for was my younger self, the one at the
intended audience’s age.
I
still write my novels for eleven-year-old me, and my picture books-- for
six-year-old me.
No
matter what a writer will tell you, there is someone in their mind when
they write. Otherwise, it is a soulless mechanical exercise using how-to formulas.
Yes, we’ve all encountered those when giving feedback and even, rarely, in
published works.
Like
prayer, real writing is addressing someone. This post is for you. 🙌
