The Power of Writing for a Small Audience
How toiling in relative obscurity benefits artists mastering their craft
Why people write is as varied as the writers who write. Building an audience takes time, yet the satisfaction gained from writing is immediate, and some say the best and most lasting motivation of all.
Gertrude Stein said that she writes for herself and strangers, so solitary writers with no concern about their audience are already halfway there. Might undo obsession with growing readership compromise the writing?
Audience feedback is important, the raw metrics. Which posts are seen more than others, which actually read? But these questions raise more questions: Do the results reveal more about the writer, or the reader?
Good writing demands focus, distractions removed. Various motivations might light the fire, but too much fuel can clog the engine. The best motivation is the goal of your protagonist, their odyssey your writing.
Great writing immerses the writer and by extension the reader within dramatic worlds driven by character, and expressed through emotion. Writing is hard work, the writer projecting the struggle of the hero.
The gap between map and territory, words and feelings, is akin to that separating writer from reader. Writers need to be read for their writing to resonate, while the first reader of any writing is the writer themself.
William James studied the synergy of body and mind. Thinkers furrow their brow, scratch their chins; the perception of duality is an illusion. Writing is a loosely choreographed physical and cognitive dance.
Whenever I write, I sit and type, fingers flying, eyes wandering, legs shaking. I stand and wander, imbibe and excrete, return and repeat. Nobody else is here, I am alone and never lonely, writer unread.
Then I share. Why not? A few like, comment, spread the word. The world just welcomed its 8 billionth human. My favorite Yiddish insult is gay cocken oifen yam: “Go take a dump in the ocean.” None of this really matters.
Last year I published my first book, a team effort with a great friend and talented illustrator. This year we’re set to publish several more. Will we be read? That’s welcome, but not prime motivation for such enjoyable work.
We dream of hanging out in an office, brainstorming all day, logo of our publishing company stenciled on the wall. For lunch we have Mexican food, and late afternoon is siesta time. Is that too much to ask for?
