One of my favorite pieces of writing advice is that no story can be everybody’s cup of tea. It just has to be somebody’s.
Just one person, that’s all you have to think about.
Today I’m working on a short story about women turning into gardens. One thing I’m struggling with is that I keep picturing this story’s worst critics in my head.
Sometimes I worry that it’s going to be “too feminist,” and I picture a misogynistic reader insulting it on the internet. Other times, I worry that it’s going to be “too much body horror,” and I picture a disgusted reader putting it down halfway.
But that’s the thing—it’s not supposed to be for everybody. If I had to write something that everyone in the world would find agreeable, it’d be a story with nothing to say. I’d prefer to write a story that I hope a few readers will absolutely love, rather than write a story that I hope zero readers will absolutely hate.
And because I don’t always listen to my own advice, I’ve collected some quotes from famous creative people, telling us the same thing.
Kurt Vonnegut: “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”
Margaret Atwood: “There is no such thing as ‘readers’ en masse. There is only ever a single reader.”
John Legend: “My mother, I want her to like my music, but she’s not exactly my target audience. So I care more about the fans in general, just making sure they enjoy what I do.”
So, for each story I write, I pick an ideal reader, just a single person. Sometimes it’s someone I know in real life. Other times, if I don’t know someone who would love this particular story, it’s someone I make up.
For this too-body-horror, too-feminist story, I’ve made up an ideal reader named Anna.
Anna, in my head, is someone who was always taught to make herself smaller to fit the men around her. Someone accustomed to taking on certain types of emotional labor without even realizing it. Someone who feels conflicted about how much of herself she’s obligated to give away.
Anna is the reader I’m writing this story for. And that means it’s okay if the Johns and Susans and Daves of the world don’t “get it.”
If trying to write for everybody is something you struggle with too, try picturing an ideal reader. Ask yourself:
- Who would love this story?
- What life experiences have they that will make this story resonate with them?
- What impact do you want this story to make on them?
Then, forget about how everyone else in the world would react to your story. Your ideal reader is the only one who matters, and they need you to keep writing your stories and putting them out into the world.
I’m Hannah Yang, and I’m a full-time author. Every Monday, I publish a new blog article about writing craft tips, my writing process, or my journey to publication. Share this article if it resonated with you, and subscribe if you want to see more!