Feb 6, 2014 / Beginner

Who Is Your Reader?

Who do you write for? Who do you think of when drafting a post?

Many of us write for ourselves — we scribble our innermost thoughts in journals. We draft private blog posts. Or we write personal musings but don’t mind if our readers’ eyes fall upon them. But really, if you’re here on WordPress.com, you likely want to be part of something bigger: to make your voice heard and contribute to the conversation.

I recently wrote about my own struggle with blogging:

When I write with the intent to publish, when I write with the internet in mind — which is really all the time — the process is something else entirely. Something so different from the years I used to write in my journal, where I cleared the cobwebs and allowed my thoughts to stir in the same private space, over and over.

As bloggers, we set our words free with just the click of the Publish button, and oftentimes I think we conflate writing with publishing. When I’m drafting a post, it’s hard not to think about my readers — thousands of avatars amid a sea of pixels. Is this relevant and timely and now? Will this resonate? And then I freeze. Sometimes I delete the draft. Most of the time, I tell myself I’ll come back to it, and it ends up sitting in my dashboard. Forever.

In a post on the intrinsic value of blogging, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg talks about how blogging is harder than it used to be — that amidst obsessing over stats, counting Likes, and waiting for comments, we forget about what really counts, like genuine engagement, thoughtful interaction, and focusing on what you truly want to say.

Matt suggests simple, practical advice: write for two people. Write for yourself, and for one other person you have in mind, as if writing them a letter:

. . . when I get caught up in that the randomness of what becomes popular or generates commentary and what doesn’t it invariably leads me to write less. So blog just for two people.

On Twitter, I asked: When you draft a post, do you write with someone specific in mind? Who is your reader? Or do you just write? A few responses suggest many of you just write (and we love this hands-off approach):

https://twitter.com/RobsSurfReport/status/430437003369250816

But how can we make Matt’s advice work for us? What can we do? Andrea Badgley commented that when she feels stuck, she thinks about Amy, her friend of more than 25 years:

I write a letter to her in my journal. I write to two people — myself and Amy — and the freedom in that loosens the words.

Dorry-kun also suggests evolving from this and shaping The Reader in your head:

I was always writing to my girlfriend. Every single published word was aimed at her, because I thought she would be the only one to listen. It really helped me a lot.

I feel I have grown since then — I no longer write just for her. Nowadays I kind of switch between her and The Reader, an imaginary reader. I have no idea who he is. I just know he is male and reads my literary concoctions.

So, next time you sit down to write a post, ask yourself: who is your reader? Then, write your post with this person in mind. When you think about this specific individual as you write, you might find your focus is sharper, your voice stronger, and your writer self more confident.

I’d love to hear about your own muses: who do you write for? 

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  2. I write for me and for an “Unknowable” Reader, a “someone else” but no one in mind. And I hope what I write resonates in some small way with one other out there. It is reassuring and validating when I get a response from someone, however small. It just means I’m not alone. 🙂

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  3. I only just started blogging again, but the thing that has remained the same is that I only write for myself – the other half of me that rarely sees the light of day. The voice that I publish is not the voice of every day, so it tends to be more sarcastic, funny, sad, depressed, whimsical and bitchy 🙂

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  4. Well I’ve got the writing for myself part down pat – writing fuels me – but I need to work on the writing for one other person part. I definitely get far too caught up in “what people might think.” This causes me to “protect myself.” This also causes many unfinished drafts on my dashboard or desktop that would probably have been great pieces if I just wrote with some gusto and published my original thoughts without trying to over edit. This is post good food for thought. Thank you!

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  7. “When you think about this specific individual(s) as you write, you might find your focus is sharper, your voice stronger, and your writer self more confident..”
    I totally love that advice. And come think of it, it really works better this way. You get to really get into your post without worrying about those thousands of people without faces we usually try to ‘impress’.

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  10. I first write for myself, just a few things I want to share. But then I suddenly think of what my readers would think about what I was writing. I always end up deleting my first draft and start writing a new one wherein I think a lot would like. I always think wrong haha.

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  11. Hello my name is Drea. I am new to WordPress and blogging all together. I started my blog page Drea’s Babysitting Service yesterday. I am having a bit of trouble getting followers and getting people to see that I am working really hard to get started. I would really like it if you could explore my page, give me some pointers on managing a successful blog and possibly send some followers my way . Please and Thank You.
    Sincerely, Drea

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  13. I write because i am compelled to write, there is a voice within that need to be heard, it dont matter if any one reading it or not, because the appropriate reader will one day stumble upon it, and will get the message they need at that moment and time

    blessings

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  14. I write because I feel it amusing and entertaining. People will always find you and your blog at right time. Although I am newbie to blogging, but consistency yields (brain wave!).

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  15. I tend to write for myself and in journals If I am not writing something for an assignment. My reader tends to be myself but I thought what you have wrote was interesting… Clearing the cobwebs.. Have to try that

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  17. Initially when I started blogging, I wrote for myself. Now, my blog has a direction, and I feel that although I haven’t changed my style of writing, I do keep my readers in mind.

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  19. i blog for anyone who feels like they can relate to my reflections! i try to be relatable, and hope that people can feel that 🙂

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  22. interesting when the blog actually serves many different purposes… it’s hard to know how to divide posts because you are writing to many different audiences sometimes, so should you just include everything in one post or start separating and how much? something i’m just learning…

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  23. When I blog I think about my theme and I try to stick with it. Like most bloggers I like to write online so that I can connect with others through the sharing of ideas. I guess If I wanted to write for myself I would just get my personal diary/journal.

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  25. I write to let go. Unfortunately, depression feeds my writing. I never delete drafts, I always spill whatever I think on the pages. I never go back to edit them, I’m completely exposed to my readers (if any).

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  26. I know I’m a little late. This is, quite possibly, the best post ever. I’m new-ish to blogging. I say that because, while I’ve technically had the blog for several months, I have yet to post anything. I’ve been frozen by the “What do I write” question. What could I possibly say that anybody would be interested to hear? It’s terrifying. I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t think of this, myself. As a fiction writer, I should have realized that the write-to-your-reader rule applies as much to blogging as to fiction. Of course I could never write something that would be interesting to all readers! That’s impossible; yet I was trying to do exactly that because, as an introvert, I was blinded by the ridiculous number of possible readers; and I froze. But talking to myself? THAT, I can do. Talk to one other person? If I imagine my ideal reader as an aspect of myself, at least to start, I can do that too. Thank you, Cheri. Maybe it won’t be another several months before I actually manage to hit that publish button.

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  30. I’m just starting out, but I’m just writing for myself. I’m writing to get everything out in a public yet somehow very private way. My purpose is to figure out how to navigate the world around me, the thoughts inside both fleeting and enduring, and the feelings I’m dealing with. I want others to see and read what I write. If they do, they do. If they don’t, they don’t. It doesn’t affect my style in anyway.

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