Dear Reader
All of this talk of flame wars and how authors should respond to readers has got me thinking. If you could write a letter to someone who reads your work, what would you say to them? Important note: this is not hate mail. Think of it, intead, as a love letter. Or, maybe, a statement of intent. The goal here is to focus on what makes you tick as a writer by laying out who you’re writing for.
This week, I challenge you to think of your ideal reader. Imagine who that person is and what they’re like. What do you have in common with them? What is it in that person that you’re trying to reach out and touch?
Now, write it out and tell them.
jenny maloney View All →
Jenny writes dark fiction that her mother hates. Her stories and essays have appeared in Across the Margin, Pantheon, Shimmer, Black Denim Lit, Skive, and others. When she’s not writing her own stuff, she’s reading mysteries for Criminal Element. When she’s not writing fiction or reviews, she’s writing/directing/performing/designing plays at Springs Ensemble Theatre.
Other Worlds, and This 
My ideal reader is pretty much someone like myself who likes similar stories to me… So I guess you could say that ultimately, I am writing for myself???!!
It's great that your ideal reader is yourself. I've actually written a letter to myself (mailed it and everything) telling myself what I liked about what I was doing and how I was doing it. Crazy, yeah. But sometimes it's good to hear that you're doing a good job – even from yourself. =)