I’m at the end of my second week back from spring break and find myself still coasting along with the energy that ten days away gave me. Things are looking up, or at least I’m seeing things with a new perspective.
Jessica expressed a sentiment in the comments section of my last post that I think really rings true for any writer. The words you put on a page, especially when writing fiction, are some of the most honest things you’ll ever come up with. By writing them down you’re essentially saying that you think that arranging words in a given order, or using language in a given way, makes it beautiful. You’re expressing yourself in a way that simultaneously encourages and prohibits interpretation. A writer should never be afraid to offend someone, but, at the same time, they are asserting themselves by saying that they are writers. They are saying that they understand language and culture and people, and, essentially, that they understand themselves. Those are a lot of claims to make.
So naturally any creative writer gets nervous when someone reads their work. Because while we believe in what we’re writing, we always want that piece of confirmation from others. We want to know that we’re good. We want to know that we’re right. This need to express ourselves in a way that others can identify with is what so firmly connects creative writing to visual art.
But who are you really writing for? “Know your audience,” they say, and obviously you must. But, beyond that, why are you writing? Who do you seek approval from? What makes you nervous about putting your work on display? That can shape your work more than anything else. I generally write for the older set of what publishing calls “Young Adults”, but I want my work to be appreciated by my parents and my teachers. And I want, above all, to be able to appreciate it myself. When I produce a good piece, I convince myself that it does all of these things, and it’s the excitement of finding this common ground that allows me to hold up my work for others to see.
So who do you write for?
On another note entirely, tonight is Earth Hour! I hope that you’re able to participate.
I’m shutting away my computer from anything but occasional school work and leaving to enjoy spring break in some place a little closer to home, but before I do so I want to give my best wishes to anyone entering the PUSH contest this year! I hope to see your names on the website and hope that you’ll join me in New York this summer!
