Author’s Note: As always, this is an opinion piece. Every single writer is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution or equation for this. Most of it is luck, timing, and an ability to compartmentalize what your heart tells you vs what society tells you. So, let’s look at it.
If you know me, even a little, you’ve probably heard me say, or rather scream from the rooftops, that you should always write for you first. Now, don’t complain yet. Let me explain why I say that.
Here’s the thing. As a writer, I feel more connected to things I’m passionate about. Things that get my blood pumping and drive my creativity forward. So, if there’s a topic I’m not very familiar with, something I don’t really care about, or something off-putting, I’m probably not going to read it. So, why would I write about it? Seems like a simple answer, yes? But it’s really not when you start to pull at those threads and really look at it.
Writers write for a lot of different reasons. Some are looking to make money, even if it’s not a ton, and in this industry, that can be hard to do. Some do it for the dopamine hits, especially if they aren’t making anything off it and just absorb reactions and comments. Some writers are just looking to throw their voice into the void. And even fewer, it seems, are writing for themselves and what writing does for their soul.
And none of these reasons are bad or wrong, right? It’s long been said that if you desire to read something that isn’t there, you should write it instead. And, sure. Why not? Anyone can be a writer; you just need the drive and an implement. But that does lead us to the question of which should be more important.
And that’s… complicated.
I think most of this depends on why you are writing. If it’s the former, meaning you are in this business to make money and that’s it, then the answer is pretty simple. You go where the money takes you. In a society drenched to the roots in Capitalism, there is no other answer. If this is your drive, then your goal should be to pump out as many stories as your mind can churn out, and probably spend all your ‘free’ time doing that. It’s a good way to make money if you can hit the right markets, and snag the right readers, and plenty of people have done this. And some of this is about talent, some about luck and timing, and some about sheer force of will. If you are amenable to changing trends, always altering your genres or niches when the market steers in that direction, or you simply don’t get immersed in the guts of the stories, then this is what you should be doing. And there’s nothing wrong with this approach; it just means that you may not have as much sentimental attachment to the story. That is certainly not true for everyone. I'm just talking about generalities here. And I don’t see how you could get attached to the core without spending the amount of time that requires and still churn out work like that.
I personally find this approach not only too formulaic for my taste, but a bit on the boring side. Maybe it’s because I will never write something that doesn’t interest me, because how can I possibly put feeling into it?
Conversely, if you are writing because it's the thing that drives you, heart and soul, then maybe you don’t take such a forward approach in what you churn out. As I alluded to before, my heart isn’t in certain things. And as a reader, I yearn for what I can feel the author put their entire soul into. I want to feel those deep, dark emotions and the hard undercurrents of feeling that come with them. These books speak to me on a personal level because it's the same approach that I take with my own writing.
My drive is to tell the stories I want to tell, regardless of whether anyone else ever reads them or not. I hope they do, and nothing brings me more pleasure than hearing back from a reader that they loved my stories and connected with them on the same level that I did writing them. It’s my greatest accomplishment to do that. So while I do hope that I reach readers, I write for me first. My stories take longer to write because I obsess over them, pouring everything I have into their creation. I want to feel the characters' emotions. I want to be turned on by the scene and fall in love with the book. I can’t do that if I can’t connect to it. I can’t write based on what the trends tell me to because that’s not me. It’s not why I became a writer. I need it to mean something other than making money. That’s a helpful side benefit, but the feeling I get from writing is the point.
But there is a tricky middle ground where people can do both. I envy them. While I get stuck in the chaos that is a weary brain, adhd, obsessive craftsmanship, and too many other things to count, some people can just sit and churn out story after story that they do connect with. They can look at a genre and say, ‘yeah I can’t do that, no problem,’ and they give a good story, with intriguing plots and interesting characters. I suspect that they don’t have as deep a connection to all their work as I do, but maybe that’s not true. Maybe they truly do fall somewhere in the middle of all the noise, and they write equally for themselves and others, and make it work. Unless you have endless time to write and an unhinged amount of focus, I’m not sure how you accomplish this, but there are people who do. And that’s fantastic. Again, I envy them.
I can’t do that. It would be disingenuous to try. I wouldn’t be able to give work I was proud of if I did that because I would lose my mind trying and just give up. So, I don’t. Every story you will ever get from me, be it a short story, poem, blurb, blog, or whole ass novel, comes from my heart and no place else. I’ve connected with that story on a level that I feel in my bones. They will never be fast, and they will never be for the sake of following trends. Because that’s not the kind of writer I am.
And even though I have a personal preference and opinion, that’s not to say any other way is invalid. They are all a means to an end; they just travel different paths to a similar destination, with different objectives in mind.
I always write for me first and everyone else second. In my opinion, that’s how it should be done. Art is meant to evoke emotions, and drive you to think about the beauty of its creation. To revel in the words and connect to them in a brief escape from the hellscape that is life. To marvel that someone fell in love with a concept so much that they poured their very soul into it and presented it, naked in all it’s glory, to the world. I find beauty in that, and I strive for it in everything I do, and always will. To do otherwise would be to lose myself as a writer.
So, what about you? Who do you write for?
What are your thoughts on writing and who you should write for? Do you write for you and wherever your thoughts take you, or do you follow the money and audience and write what they want to read?
