The Audience

I'm reading On Writing Well by William Zinsser. He asks the question "Who is my audience?"

His answer to that is surprising. He said "You are writing for yourself."

It did make me think. As a writer, I want people to read my words and what I have to say. In the back of my mind, i am constantly wondering if people even care about what I am writing. Or if a publisher will see my work and know there is a spot for it in their arsenal.

However, when you actually think about it, he's right. There is no such thing as the mass audience. Readers and editors don't know what they want until they read it. A writer is writing primarily to please himself, or herself. If you are writing with enjoyment, then what you write will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.

But as a Christian writer, there is another side to the story. It is this. I am writing to please myself, and I am writing to please God. I am not niave enough to think that what I am writing is inspired. Only the Bible was inspired. But there are times when i walk away from the computer with a sense of satisfaction, knowing what I wrote was from my heart to God's.

This is my offering of praise. To write for my audience of two.