Who Decides What You Write?

The answer to the question seems pretty straightforward – You decide what you write. No?

After discussions with friends and fellow bloggers, however, I have found out that things are not that simple.

When we start writing, we write what we want to write, but for most of us that time doesn’t last long. Today, with so many outlets for our creative energies, it is not too difficult to run out of creative steam. What happens then?

The Internet has made it possible for our words reach the farthest corner (maybe not the farthest, but  you get the point, don’t you?) of the world within no time. Simultaneously, the Internet has also made it possible for anyone who reads us to give you feedback in real time.

 Is that good for us, as writers?

Before I continue, let me tell you a little story:

Even though I had been writing for a few years at that time, I had never thought about getting anything published. The main reason was the fact that I was living in a small town, where writing was not generally encouraged as a profession.

So, when I read about an online short story writing competition, I thought of it as a great opportunity to test my writing skills. When I had written what I thought to be a great story, I decided to show it to a couple of friends for getting their views. To be honest, I was expecting them to be floored by the story. I was looking for confirmation that it was a great story.

But, instead, I was told that this was an average story that any school going child could write. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I almost did not submit that story for the contest. But, since the last date for submission of entries was fast approaching, I decided to submit it anyway.

The results came as a pleasant surprise because my story was one of the stories that had been selected for publication.

The moral of the story is that we cannot remain unaffected by the feedback we receive. If I had more time, I would definitely have written something else for the contest, and, maybe, that something would not have been good enough to win the contest.

What we write depends on who our audience is. Sooner or later, it is our audience that begins to decide what we write. But, before we begin to pay attention to what our audience is saying, we have to identify who our target audience is. It is foolish to try and please everyone, and anyone who attempts to do that is doomed to fail.

The important thing, therefore is to understand who our audience is, and pay close attention to how they are responding to what we write for them. Who would not feel good about having a large audience for their work, and why would not the writer attempt to write what the audience wants to read?

(Image courtesy: warleyross from sxc.hu)