So helpful, Stephanie. Thank you. I'm especially drawn to "consenting to paradox" right now. Rather than pick a side (among the sides arguing it out in my brain), I'm bringing their battle into the light and onto the page.
I really like this idea: "There’s an art to anticipating your reader’s response, and meeting them there. How Saunders put it: get inside what your reader is thinking, enough to say, “Let me take that on.” It is a powerful thing to let the reader see you seeing them, and this is the witness that earns their sacred trust."
But what in the world does it look like in practice? Is it something that naturally flows once you have a good handle who your audience is?
This is a great question, thank you! I think it's about writing as if you are in conversation with your reader--anticipating their reactions, and writing directly to that. So getting intentional about addressing their skepticisms, questions, concerns, fears as you write. Definitely flows out of knowing your reader, and perhaps a large part of loving them well.
Thank you for replying, Stephanie. I think I missed including a key contextual element in my question. haha. I meant to ask, how would an author do this for a novel?
Ah I see! Haha. Wow, I'd love to ask Saunders that. I'm not a fiction writer myself, but yes, that would certainly take a different form! Still I imagine it stems from knowing your reader and what they want from a text.
His book "A Swim in the Pond in the Rain" has quickly become my go-to book on writing. So cool you got to see him in town!
Beautiful. He's just as wicked funny in person too.
So helpful, Stephanie. Thank you. I'm especially drawn to "consenting to paradox" right now. Rather than pick a side (among the sides arguing it out in my brain), I'm bringing their battle into the light and onto the page.
Not easily done. That's some creative courage!
So many good nuggets here!
So much goodness here. Thank you!
Thank you for this!!
I really like this idea: "There’s an art to anticipating your reader’s response, and meeting them there. How Saunders put it: get inside what your reader is thinking, enough to say, “Let me take that on.” It is a powerful thing to let the reader see you seeing them, and this is the witness that earns their sacred trust."
But what in the world does it look like in practice? Is it something that naturally flows once you have a good handle who your audience is?
This is a great question, thank you! I think it's about writing as if you are in conversation with your reader--anticipating their reactions, and writing directly to that. So getting intentional about addressing their skepticisms, questions, concerns, fears as you write. Definitely flows out of knowing your reader, and perhaps a large part of loving them well.
Thank you for replying, Stephanie. I think I missed including a key contextual element in my question. haha. I meant to ask, how would an author do this for a novel?
Ah I see! Haha. Wow, I'd love to ask Saunders that. I'm not a fiction writer myself, but yes, that would certainly take a different form! Still I imagine it stems from knowing your reader and what they want from a text.
“You don’t want your gravestone to read, ‘Avoided that which he most wanted to do because it was too hard.’” OOF.
My thoughts exactly!