Saturday, April 28, 2012

A to Z Blogging Challenge: Y is for...



...You!


For my entries in the 2012 A to Z Challenge, I will be focusing on writing elements that I find important and that I want to incorporate into my work. 

Today, the topic is YOU.

As a writer, I want readers. 

I want you.

In order for my writing to mean anything, I want you to read what I have written.

Otherwise, I might as well not even bother to write – I would simply be talking to myself (not that I don’t do that too, but that’s a topic for another day).

As an evolving writer, I try to not fixate on a quest for eventual publication, and I will never measure my success as a writer by how much financial gain comes from it.  But I do want at least one reader.

I want you to read my stories.

But I also ask for more than that.  In earlier A-to-Z posts, I’ve mentioned description, characterization, backstory, setting, and other elements and I’ve discussed how I lean towards the “less is more” theory when it comes to giving a reader the extra details of the story.  This is because I don’t want a reader to just passively read my stories.  I want them to bring some of themselves into the equation.   

Because when the descriptions and extraneous details are omitted, the reader can fill this in their OWN thoughts and details. Then the story becomes more than just a one-way flow of information from my head to the reader.  The reader helps flesh out and shape the story, making it much more of a personal experience.

I want you to read my stories -- and make them your own.

This is what I really want.

Thanks for visiting -- see you on Monday for the final installment in this alphabetical fun!

Don't forget to visit HERE to see all the bloggers taking part in this A-to-Z challenge, and try to drop in on as many of them as you can!

6 comments:

Nicole said...

Great point! I like your addition of making it their own.

EvalinaMaria said...

Please write, I will read :)

Tonja said...

I read once that Poe only included in his stories the minimum details needed to execute the plot. I think that's great for short stories in particular.

StratPlayerCJF said...

@Nicole: Thank you very much!

@EvalinaMarie: I really appreciate that!

@Tonja: I completely agree. Thanks for the visit and the comment!

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Interesting post. I can't remember which author a piece I read was talking about, but it said he purposely gives scant physical descriptions of his main characters to allow readers room to project and associate their own concepts onto them. Makes sense. Once our imaginations are involved in the process of reading a book, we're hooked.

StratPlayerCJF said...

@Susan: I agree -- I enjoy it more as a reader and so I lean towards doing the same thing as a writer. Thanks for the comment!