People come in all varieties. So, as we often do, let’s discuss readers. Some readers are writers. Many are not. They just love to read. Let’s narrow it down to readers who love fiction, those who like to have a novel available most of the time.
Now, for those of us who write fiction, and novels in particular, we have a general idea of who our audience is or will be. For example, I have specified that my readers should be adults because of my themes having to do with sexuality. To narrow it down further, the majority of my readers will likely be women because there is a predominant slant to romance. To get even more categorical, I could say that my readers shouldn’t object to an accurate portrayal of people stuck in the throes of sinful behavior, either decidedly and rebelliously or in ignorance of its consequences. That’s a fairly defined audience.
Before I get to the main body of the post, let me define myself as an audience. I want to read contemporary novels with realism and authenticity in situation, plot, language, characters, and dialogue. Since I limit my reading to Christian fiction, I want to “hear”, “see”, or read the gospel in some capacity, worked into the story just like it gets worked into real life. I don’t want to have to guess or search for where the author was attempting to work “God” or “spiritual” references into the story.
There are certain writers I favor in the romance department because when they introduce romance to the story, it captures the nuances of attraction, desire, insecurities, and longing. They make it sizzle without any erotic graphics. And although I’ve read a lot of romance, it isn’t all I read. (It is all I write, although somewhat untraditional. So far.)
I love mysteries and thrillers—especially with a little romance mixed in—cops, lawyers, military, and adventure stories. As long as they’re real, I’m in.
I don’t mind the occasional use of the words “hell” or “damn”—but I do mean occasional. No cheap, irreverent swearing. The intimation of cussing is fine, but I don’t want to read the words—good grief, I quit using them when I got saved. I don’t need to be reminded what they are—I’m all too familiar with them.
Okay. Having said all that, as a writer of seven novels, I can tell you this. When I write, there is more than a little piece of me that goes into those stories. As my friend and guest on “Saturday Sample . . .” Jason Joyner over at his blog (“Spoiled for the Ordinary”) discovered, when you elect to share your writing with another person, a part of you is exposed. To a degree how you think, how you transmit your thoughts to paper, how you perceive certain individuals and situations, and how you view the journey through life is now evident in some capacity through those pages of description, action, and dialogue. Yes, it’s make-believe, but you alone are the imbiber of the experience you are now pouring forth to share. It’s personal.
That’s why it’s so daunting once the manuscript is finished to allow someone to read it. That’s when the insecurities abound. Because it’s personal.
You see, when a reader decides to comment on your work and their comments are harsh, mean-spirited, questioning your salvation, or ridiculing your supposed “talent”, what they are really saying is this: I don’t like you. At least, I don’t like the part of you that’s in this story. And that hurts. Or it can.
I’m the oversensitive type. Drama deluxe. Deep emotional pain-feeler. Always have been. My blessing and curse. Once in a great while, the Lord has allowed me to feel His emotion. It’s overwhelming. I can’t take it for very long, and He knows that. His heart is bigger, stronger, unlimited in its durability, compassion, never ending love.
Writing fiction is personal. We might write about people and places we’ve never known or been, but somewhere in them there’s a piece of us. Tiny or large, it’s there. Because honesty comes from the heart, and developing a story has to have its birth in honesty. We have to come from a place of understanding to capture that authenticity, even if we dare to write about a fantastical location with unforeseen creatures lurking in hidden places. Still, our concepts and sometimes our dreams are set before our readers to be handled with care but even moreso to be judged. We’re exposed, and it’s personal.
That is why it can hurt. So much.
Father, as a writer, I'm vulnerable to all who read the work you've given me to write. I will be judged. The only judgment that matters is yours. May I write to please you. Please protect me from the enemy's arrows as I hold up my shield of faith and trust in you. You are my hero, my strong tower. Help me to be faithful and obedient. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.