When you write, if it is to be any good at all, you must feel free, free and not anxious.
-Brenda Ueland “If You Want To Write”
Some of my best writing, before I started to concentrate on my fiction again, was done in hand-written letters to my childhood friend, Linda.
She is witty and clever and very different from me in many ways, but we share a long history, and she understands all my references. She is unfailingly supportive, except when I’m being an idiot and need a kick up the rear, which she will happily – and gently – administer.
Writing letters to my friend is effortless because I want to entertain her, I know her, and I know she will be a generous reader.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could be sure that all your stories were met with such an audience?
Well, of course, you can’t. But the best way to assure a good response to your writing is to write your very best stuff. And the only way to write your very best stuff, is to come at it with confidence, as if it were going to be read by your ideal reader.
Do you know who your ideal reader is? (Hint: it might be you).
Sketch out a few characteristics of you Ideal Reader now.
- Do you actually know someone who would be your ideal reader?
- What authors does she like?
- How does he like his characters to act?
Now, keep this image of your ideal reader in mind next time you sit down to write a story.
If this technique helps you, leave a comment and the description of your ideal reader, below. I’d love to see what you came up with.