The reader is the thing

By Karen Dums

At a recent meeting Guild member Linda brought her friend Cathy as a guest and possible new member, though Cathy avows she is not a writer. (We'll have to take her word until she decides to share with us otherwise). An avid reader, Cathy listened with interest as Guild member Allie shared some of her novel-in-progress. Not only did she listen, she shared her insights.

In after-meeting conversation Cathy claimed she'd brought nothing to the table. Seriously?

As writers we often get caught up in our own heads. The story is so familiar to us; we tell it as we want it to be told. That can be wonderful of course, but one thing we might forget as writer's is who we're writing for. (And here's a clue: it's not the person holding the pen or with his/her fingers poised above the keyboard). It's the reader of course. We are taking them on a voyage of discovery. A voyage that we should be sharing with them. If we take them to the mountain top too quickly they're liable to become oxygen starved and give up the climb. If we take them to the ocean depths too soon they're liable to get the "bends" and that's never good. A boring book is less deadly than a pulmonary embolism, but do you understand my point? We may have our story, total and complete, however rough and as yet unedited, in our heads. But we must remember to "make" those discoveries along with our audience -- not too much so that our work is utterly predictable; not so little that it cannot hold anyone's interest unless they have the attention span of a gnat.

This is a fine and sometimes difficult balance keep. As writers we must, at all times, keep our audience first and foremost in mind.

All authors are writing for someone. That is why in writer's groups readers are such a valuable asset. With diverse backgrounds, tastes, gifts, interests we can give a relatively well-rounded critique of any written work. Are any of us experts? Not really. But we know what we like. Are all that sea of as yet faceless readers out there in book buying land experts? No as well. But they too know what they like.

I once read an article concerning a writer who created her own "reader". She gave her ideal reader a name, an occupation, a family, a hometown, a house, likes and dislikes. Our group used this as a writing exercise. We created our own ideal reader. It might sound like a no-brainer. If my target audience is high school age boys I'm probably not going to hook them with the marital problems of a middle-aged couple. But if my target is a 52 year old woman named Edna, who lives in a small farming community in rural Indiana, has children now grown and gone and a workaholic husband named Clyde, that book about the marital problems of a middle-aged couple might just be it. Keep an eye on that target. Remember who you're writing for. Imagine Edna or Joe or Brittany or Jordan intently turning the pages of your book, smiling all the while.

And if someone is reading your work prior to submission give them a big thank you. Bottom line. The reader IS the thing.