Clarifying your writing goal and finding your Audience
For Whom Are You Writing?
Yesterday, I went to the bank to make a deposit, and the teller who read the name Wise Writer Publishing on my deposit slip became excited. She asked me if I was a local publisher, sharing that she is a writer. Of course, I congratulated her immediately, and she admitted that she has never finished a book or shown her writing to others because she’s afraid.
With people standing in line behind me, I couldn’t really get into a long conversation and offer too much advice at a teller window, but I did encourage her to join a critique group and to be among other writers who are all learning.
This got me thinking that we are typically our own first audience. We write for ourselves; then eventually, we are willing to write for others. At each stage of our writing career, it’s important to know who we are writing for and why.
Your writing goal
Even as a beginning writer, you should have a goal. Are you hoping to publish your writing someday? Are you writing to have a creative outlet? Are you writing to relieve stress at the end of the day or writing as a way to meditate or heal from painful memories? All reasons are reasonable, but it’s important to know why you write so that you can set a long-term goal…
