Readers One and Many

Most people think of writing as an individual activity. Many folks say, I write only for me! That could be so, but even then what a writer writes comes from experience, observation, and interaction with other people or of the writer as a person. Writing is intimately individual but also dynamically social. Even when people don’t read what I write, they have inspired it in some way or another.

Writing for an audience can seem overwhelming. It’s easy to get caught in a loop — thinking of each person who might drop by as someone you specifically have to write to. I find what works best for me is to define the group and to define my promise to them as a writer. [Read more…]