4 Big Reasons Why You Should Be Writing for Yourself First and Your Audience Second

No one should underestimate the power of words, especially not a writer. As with all things in life this power can be used for good in the world or for bad. It’s the writer’s decision how they will use their power. To use the full potency of the power, however, is something hard to get right. 

If you are not careful, you can be stuffed in a box called “Popular, Expected, and Acceptable” by those who would advise you. There are many names this box can be called, but it’s intention is still the same—it is to conform your writing to what is popular, expected, and accepted in a genre or reading community. 

It is the box with six brown walls people say if your book fits into will be a success. These people often make out—even believe—that this tight little box is not a box at all, but an expansive field free of boundaries. 

They say to write in this genre you must add this type character, that kind of language, a steamy scene or two and then you will be on the golden road to success. 

For me, I don’t fancy being stuck writing in a cramped box where I need to check to-do boxes until my work is deemed good by others. I want to explore the creative imaginings inside of myself, relate and give new insights to my readers, and make a good difference in the world. 

If you feel the same way, let’s get started with the first step to climbing out of the box–it might not be what you expect. 

Write for Yourself First, and Your Audience Second.  

 When I first learned this in a creative writing class, I was taken aback. 

I thought, “Isn’t it for readers I am writing for? Aren’t they the ones influenced and entertained by my work?”

Soon afterwards, however, the truth of this lesson began to settle in. When you write for yourself, you will be writing with passion, writing what your ideal audience needs, writing with integrity and power, and finding your ideal reader all at once. 

As the truth of the lesson sank in I felt relief because it was what I had always wanted to do—to write what I felt I needed to write.

So, what did I need to write?

I needed to write to find healing, and to uncover the truth about my life. I wanted to write the characters and stories bubbling up inside of me the way I wanted.  Overarching it all, I needed to write something I could be proud and not ashamed of in front of anyone—not only myself and my readers, but God. 

Writing solely for an audience put up walls around the story I wanted to create. With this new focus of writing for myself, I was able to let my creative mind run free from the expectations of others. 

Yet doing this isn’t just for yourself, it benefits your readers just as much. 

4 Benefits Your Readers Reap…

1. Passion 

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

Robert Frost

If you do not have passion for what you write, your reader will not either. 

This is one of the reasons why writing for yourself makes a better read for your reader. When writing what you think they want, it is not going to make a big enough impact because it does not affect you. No matter how good a writer you are, when passion is involved, it is that much better. 

Writing what you feel passionate about will make your story relatable to readers. It will be powerful and moving to write and to read. 

2. Your Needs Are Their Needs. 

When you write for what you need, you are writing for what your readers need, whether they realize it at the time or not. 

While every person is unique, we can all have similar problems, similar emotions, and similar situations. When we write what we feel called to say, then we can help people with the same struggles from first hand experience. 

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3. Integrity

If you can write with a focus on what you would be proud to write, it’s easier to have integrity to follow through. 

When your focus is on the readers from the start, you will feel pressure from the beginning to fit into the boxes they set for you. But when you start with the internal focus first, you have freedom to write what people would like but not know, or what people have wanted the whole time but have been too confined in the same box as yourself to make known. 

4. You Write Directly for Your Audience 

Lastly, when you write for yourself you are automatically writing for your ideal audience.

When you write what you need, you will be writing for those who will relate, embrace, and truly love your work enough to share it with others. What better way to make fans of your work than by deeply relating to those readers?

When you write to a wide established audience, your work will be noted and liked. But when you write for a specific kind of reader—those with the same taste as yourself—your work will last in their hearts and minds. 

Write for a Difference  

This power you hold starts inside of you, and then moves outside of yourself into the world. 

When your writing makes a difference in you, then it will make a difference in your reader. What greater work can be written than one which embraces what is needed to be told, what is important, what is truth, and what is good? 

Don’t start writing for the audience you want to be popular with. Chances are when you write for yourself first and your audience second popularity will come, acceptance will come, and it will be better than anything you could have planned for.   

Let your creativity free and write. Write the characters and narratives you love. Never loose sight of what is important to you, what is truth in the world, and what matters when your story is finished.