“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
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I have had enough bylines, positive responses, and other supportive experiences to feel confident in my writing ability. I am entering a new phase. What feels different to me now, with the publication of my debut novel coming up in a few months, is the faceless audience.
In journalism, my audience was more predictable. Business persons or local residents formed the base of my readers. I knew their expectations: information and understanding.
In business and technical writing, my audience was also predictable. They were the users of the software or the potential customers of the business. Their expectations were the same as in journalism: information and understanding.
With fiction, the potential audience is much broader, much less defined. On the surface, I assume that the expectation is entertainment. Another may be escapism. If Ursula K. Le Guin was correct, “People read fiction in order to exchange a world that is out of control for one that is under control, even if only in the mind of the author.” My recollection of her statement may be faulty, since it was from an interview in November 2001 for which I did not take notes. Still the sentiment resonates with me.
I hope as people read this first novel, and stick around for later works, that their expectations are met and exceeded.
darrellzwriting 