To: Readers (From: Writers)

English: A Picture of a eBook Español: Foto de eBook Беларуская: Фотаздымак электроннай кнігі Русский: Фотография электронной книги (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A reader of this blog made the comment that just as writing tethers the writer to other people, writing also tethers other people to the author. It works both ways. I've been thinking about this and decided to form my thoughts into two blogs: what writers give readers and what readers give writers. Today: what writers give to readers.

• Entertain: A writer entertains the reader. This is probably the most common reason for reading fiction: to be entertained. Entertainment is not all laughs – tears and fears make the happy times all the more meaningful.
• Educate: A writer educates the reader. Yes, there may be facts about how the material world works but there are always facts (or opinions) about the workings of people and life. As an Aspergers person, I turned to books to learn what did not come intuitively to me.
• Validate: A writer validates the reader. Readers are often drawn to writers who share similar world-views – who have similar thoughts about the way the world does (or should) work. Through this world-view, the writer can affirm the reader's feelings about struggles, joys, and conflicts. The reader finds personal affirmation in the written page.
• Feel: Definitely the writer gives a reader feelings. Every poem, book, lyric, and script is saturated in emotion. Having characters feel is not enough. The reader has a need to feel, too. And the source of feeling – just like in the real world – is in caring.
• Challenge: A writer challenges the reader. Throughout a book, the writer poses a series of questions that the reader tries to answer. A writer may also pose dilemmas about society, love, and other aspects of life. Sometimes the writer provides an answer but other times the reader is challenged to reach the reader's own conclusions.
• Create: A writer gives the reader the power to create a world that belongs just to the reader. A world that exists only inside the page(s) of the work. Some readers go further and create fan fiction, using the characters and world that the writer introduces. And some readers go even further, inspired by other writers they create their own worlds and characters. Both types write for themselves and for a new generation of readers.

To: Writers (From Readers)

Gel pens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A reader of this blog made the comment that just as writing tethers the writer to other people, writing also tethers other people to the author. It works both ways. I've been thinking about this and decided to form my thoughts into two blogs: what writers give readers and what readers give writers. Today: what readers give writers of any kind.

• Entertain: Yes, readers entertain writers. We love to design adventures for others to enjoy. Almost nothing is more fun than a reader in tears of sadness or laughter. Or a reader who is sleep-deprived because they couldn't put our book down.
• Educate: Having readers encourages writers to educate themselves. We learn more about the world so we can more accurately represent it in our books. We learn about nature, cities, the legal system, and people (just to name a few). We learn how to convey our ideas more clearly.
• Feel: Readers encourage writers to feel. Yes, the path to publication and growing readership is strewn with all kinds of emotions. But every writer is encouraged to feel and think about how feelings work so the reader can have a more intense and vicarious experience.
• Challenge: Readers definitely challenge the writer. Reach more people. Become more skilled in the craft. Invent new ways to surprise and delight. Produce new material. Keep the reader engaged. Lead the reader where you want the reader to go. So many challenges!
• Empower: The reader empowers the writer. Every time a book is read, a writer becomes someone who matters. Because of readers, a writer can become an agent of change, a therapist, a philosopher, a giver of escape, a maker of opportunities. And readers validate the writer's efforts and existence.
• Create: Readers give writers a reason to create. Yes, we would write anyway. But having readers means being subject to expectations and most people try a little harder when there are expectations to fulfill. Writers write a little better when there is someone to impress. Writers write a little faster or more often when someone is waiting to read the next installment.

Revision: logic and imagination

An unspecified river in Bangladesh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

         Both logic and imagination are necessary in revision. Revision is not some dry process. It is fluid, floating between solid logic and airy imagination. The writer dips her toes in each world. Logic gives you the ABCs – structure, guidelines, rules. Imagination gives you the words.

Logic tells me to use the space to expand on my main conflict. When I deleted nonessential chapters, I also deleted a number of chapters that grounded the reader in the main character's ordinary world. It bothers me that the reader does not get a real feel for her home village. So I want the setting to be in the village and I want the building conflict between the main character and the antagonist to involve the villagers.

Imagination uses these guidelines to come up with several scenarios. The antagonist can turn the villagers against my character in an attempt to keep her from interfering with the plan he is about to execute (inciting incident). The main character can try to prove the antagonist's innocence to her best friend, only to become suspicious herself. I like these two best, so I decide to combine them.

See?

The writer is the river that washes against two banks and takes shape from both.

Writer meditations

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
― Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin