Writing for someone specific

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In the comments on my LiveJournal mirror of yesterday’s post (spam made me turn comments off here, but you can always comment on LJ/Dreamwidth/Twitter), I mentioned that: “I write with one or two actual readers in mind (as well as myself).”

CE Murphy, who blurbed Game of Cages and has a number of terrific urban fantasy series of her own, wrote a post about it. I mean, yes, I *clearly* hope lots and lots and lots of other people are going to enjoy what I’m writing. But like many of us, I write the stories I want to read*.

To clarify, so do I. I wrote Twenty Palaces because I wanted to see a number of different things in urban fantasy (a non-expert protagonist, like Murphy talks about in her post, is one). I wrote A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark because I couldn’t find an urban fantasy with a protagonist over sixty years old.

And so on. But I also try to imagine 1-3 specific people who will be reading the book, and I try to make it something they would like. I never identify those readers, either privately or publicly. What would be the point, since they are often people I barely know? Still, it helps me focus on the book and broaden its appeal.

Additional note: Over the weekend, I posted about The Wooden Man charity auction at Pat Rothfuss’s Worldbuilder charity auction, but I know there are a lot of folks who miss weekend posts. Learn how you can win your own ghost knife! Details in the blog post.