David Pinto wrote: "As background 'research' for my book I sought out a film I have seen a while back, Two For The Money, with Al Pacino. Great movie, in my opinion (snip). However, the film didn't do that well, and the critical response is poor, at least from the IMDB site. SO I am definitely out of sorts with mainstream opinion.
Does that mean I am wrong in my viewing of the film? Was the particular line the director and writer and actors took, wrong? Clearly it was, in terms of mainstream engagement, which presumably was their target. However, it definitely hit me. (snip)
My conclusion? It does not bode well for the book... I have never thoughts about audience when writing, until now. It is a scary place, guessing what other people might like, a scary place..."
When you write, who is your audience? Where are they? What is your relationship to them?
I replied.
In reply to your question:
As I write this, David, my mental audience is you. I can imagine you, and you have asked a question. I'm trying to give you an answer.
That makes it comparatively easy. Plenty is known by me, the writer, about you, the audience. I have previous knowledge of our shared interests, and our cultural overlap. You have set the topic by asking a question. So, you have given me relevance and focus. There is a feeling of dialogue. I don't need to consider the challenge of engaging your interest, nor wonder how much I need to "teach you" as I go along. All that I need to consider is information that may be useful to you.
So, here are some of the issues I have when I write. I hope that by sharing them, you may find some thoughts to aid your own thinking.
Perhaps we can think of writing as a dance between the "needs" (motivation, knowledge etc) of the writer and the the "needs" (motivation, interest etc) of the reader.
Hmm - that reminds me of your interest in tango and leading/following. Maybe each thing that we write is like a different kind of dance.
Considering the writer
I can only write what I know - and that is what you asked for - so I'll start exploring this reader-writer dance from the viewpoint of the writer.
Usually I write because I feel passionately about some issue, or because I'm investigating it in some way. I want to add my voice to a debate of some kind, or I want to understand more, or a mixture of the two
Writing for understanding
Writing helps me to understand better. It forces me to take ideas and experiences that are all jumbled together in my mind. Writing is a linear form, but thinking isn't. Expressing something in writing imposes a disipline. I hate to write something that is just a report. I like to learn by what I'm writing. I want to gain new insights.
Writing for sanity
Often I write because if I don't there will be too many unprocessed ideas in my head. Writing serves the same function as I believe dreaming does. It is a kind of mental spring-clean. It helps to "stop my head from exploding". I write primarily for my own sanity, and my own learning.
In theory I could write to myself - just as it is possible to dance alone - but the dance has a different quality with the right partner. Of course there are many different dances. It's not always like a tango.
The idea of an existing audience for what I am writing helps to define the boundaries of interest and prior knowledge. It helps me to narrow down the limits of how much of my thinking I will allow into that particular piece of writing.
The reader (or partner)
To explore the dance anology further. Who is it that I can partner with to dance through the ideas I have in mind? What kind of a dance will it be? Where should I go to find the dancers? Maybe I'm not looking for a specific partner - but just for the chace to join in the dance.
Writing to you, tossing ideas back and forth, following your lead and taking the lead may be like a tango. But in other writing it may be more like folk dancing, joining in with a group, and sometimes taking the lead.
One way for me to to join in the dance is to find the right online space where the dance of ideas is happening. This is why I contirbute to online groups. Someone has already decided what kind of dance it is, we can all join in.
Writing to remember or make things more visible
Sometimes I publish something on line that is a longer version of something I would be writing anyway, and it is just handy to have it publicly available. I know John Dada finds it helpful to have the weekly blogs on dadamac.net about his work. I could do with something similar to show how what I do unfolds and inter-relates. Also I ofern need to send similar informaion to differenet people. If I've posted a blog about it already that can be a useful time saver.
I experimented with using posterous for this for quite a while. I'd be writing an email about something and decide to consider a wider audience. I'd turn it into an open letter, putting in a bit more background, and adding links. The original need for an email provided the purpose and defined the content boundaries - but others were welcome to see. That was a bit like dancing with a partner before the floor gets crowded - when there are other people looking on.
Sharing what I know
Recently I've contributed short chapters to a couple of academic books. I don't know the readers, so I "wrote for the editors" and they helped me knock my contirnutions into shape to suit the audiences they had in mind. I guess with the dance anaology that's a bit like being one of the acts in a variety show.
A whole show of your own!
I guess your proposed book is more like a whole show of your own. Hmm. I haven't tried that. A serious virtuoso performance! No wonder wiriters appreciate good editors and publishers to help them narrow down the idea of audience, and to fit the performance to the expectations.
I don't know - but I know more than I did
So - all these words and all that I have discovered is how little of my experience is relevant to your problem regarding your book. Writing it has helped me to understand why I struggle to express what I am learning to "other people" - but am always bursting with ideas that I want to discuss with "individual people".
Am I included?
A sudden final thought. As you know David I love your thinking and your ideas. Am I part of your potential audience? If so why - and how typical am I?
Pamela