This is a question I often ask myself when I'm writing. "Who is going to read this?"
Now this question comes into my mind as more of an editor than a writer. When I briefly fielded submissions for a small press, that was a question I had to ask myself when reading manuscripts. What audience is the author trying to reach?
Seems like I read that Joe Abercrombie writes with a member of his family in mind. Will she like it? What will she think of certain elements?
I think that's an interesting way to think about writing. If you don't have an audience, then you are really just writing for a hobby then. Which is perfectly fine.
I think it's always good to write for yourself as well. To think, "Would I pay to read this?" If the answer is "No" then who are you writing for? An invisible audience? Young adults? Generic Fantasy Reader A?
So I'm posing the question: Do you have a specific audience in mind when you are writing? If yes, who are you writing for? If no, then...um, I don't know?
I ask this question because I've been writing manga recently (and no, I'm not a life-long manga fan, but have grown more interested in it since moving to Japan) and I've been thinking tons about what audience my stories are being aimed at. So it's something I think about constantly.
Now this question comes into my mind as more of an editor than a writer. When I briefly fielded submissions for a small press, that was a question I had to ask myself when reading manuscripts. What audience is the author trying to reach?
Seems like I read that Joe Abercrombie writes with a member of his family in mind. Will she like it? What will she think of certain elements?
I think that's an interesting way to think about writing. If you don't have an audience, then you are really just writing for a hobby then. Which is perfectly fine.
I think it's always good to write for yourself as well. To think, "Would I pay to read this?" If the answer is "No" then who are you writing for? An invisible audience? Young adults? Generic Fantasy Reader A?
So I'm posing the question: Do you have a specific audience in mind when you are writing? If yes, who are you writing for? If no, then...um, I don't know?
I ask this question because I've been writing manga recently (and no, I'm not a life-long manga fan, but have grown more interested in it since moving to Japan) and I've been thinking tons about what audience my stories are being aimed at. So it's something I think about constantly.