Part of deciding what to write and publish involves thinking about who you’re writing for. Even though writing is a personal process, a professional writer doesn’t create work in a vacuum. The whole point is to develop a readership or what many would refer to as your tribe.
This week’s video is the third I’ve done about writing tips. In this case, I focus on whether one should write for “the market” or focus more on developing your own tribe or readership.
Here are a few salient points that I may or may not have covered in the video below.
- Write honestly, in your own voice. Don’t imitate other writers’ styles, in the hopes that you’ll do as well as that person.
- Don’t write based on trends in the business. By the time your work is finished, the trend will have run its course,
- When you write what you’d like to read, others who share your enthusiasm will be attracted to your work. These are the people you want in your tribe.
- The fact that some people don’t like your writing doesn’t matter. It just takes a few enthusiast readers to create a strong following, who’ll act as evangelists for your work. Having a tribe that has a strong interest in your work can lead to a writer’s best form of promotion—good word of mouth.
Check out the video for these tips and more.
I tell my songwriting students the same thing about their lyrics.
It’s the best advice for all kinds of writing, I think. 🙂