A common piece of advice thrown out at anyone who has to give a speech suggests to “imagine the audience naked”. It never worked for me. Thankfully, I’ve never received the same advice when I’ve sat down to do some writing. You may be comfortable reading your weekly Vermilion Standard in the buff. Or if you are reading this on my website, you could be in your ‘glory’ but it is not something I really need to know.
Writing is quite different from public speaking mainly because the producer is nowhere near the audience. This can make writing more comfortable. I take time to ponder, to wonder, and to hit the backspace key about a thousand times. Because of this separation, writers are often told to “consider their audience”.
So, I find myself wondering about whom I am writing for? Stephen King addresses his audience as “Dear Reader”. I get the distinct feeling that he has a very specific person in mind when he writes his stuff. He also strikes me a person who is strange enough to have an actual picture of his ‘Dear Reader’ taped to the side of his computer. There he sits, in the dark, hammering away at the keys, describing some scary scene, all the while glaring at his sweet, sweet ‘Dear Reader’.
I’ve come to the realization that I do, and don’t, picture my audience when I ramble these little articles. I have had many people let me know that they read my Ramblings and that they like my work. Thank you for the compliments. It also gives me a target audience to aim for. When I began this a little over two years ago, and for the first many months, I really had no idea who my audience was. A vague sort of form sat in my imagination of a reader. That reader was probably not that much different from myself. I try to write something that I would read. At least that way, I was certain I had one fan. It’s a little more complicated knowing that there is more readers. I begin to worry about not being able to please everyone.
Which brings me back to public speaking. The fear in public speaking is making a mistake in front of all those people. Writing’s not much different. But, let’s not even try to imagine what each other is wearing.
