Are you a respectful writer?

This may seem like an odd question, but let me explain (like you can stop me?)

Being respectful means to "see" or consider others. As writers, we concentrate on what we want to write, which makes all kinds of sense. If we don't write what we want, in the manner we want, we won't write at all. We are truly our first audience. But then there comes a time when we are finished indulging ourselves and have to think about our readers.

I'm not suggesting we try to figure out what a reader wants to read or hear, or what we think is trending right now. (Romantasy, vampires?) Nor do we have to consider who might be "offended" by what we write. Odds are someone will be.

What you have to ask yourself is simply this: Why do readers read stories? (Whether novels or memoirs.) They read to feel something. Your job as the writer is indulge that desire in others.

Your job is not to:

• teach something

• explain something

• promote something

• send a message

• baby the reader

It's been said, (probably by Samuel Goldwyn) "If you have a message, send a telegram."

Or, write a personal essay. But if you're telling a story, allow the reader to experience it. If you do that well, they will automatically understand any underlying message you want to convey.

Other Ways Writers Do Not Respect Readers:

• They include details that are not interesting or necessary to the story.

• They create characters who have no impact on the story.

• They fail to explain or describe things the reader needs to know.

All of these telegaph to the reader that the writer doesn't understand what readers want, or, worse, that the writer cares only about pleasing themselves. When a work smacks of self-indulgence I am immediately turned off.

Which is not to say that the subject matter is self-indulgent.

The subject matter of a story may not be to my taste but it can still be well written.

It is also not to say that a writer's style is necessarily self-indulgent.

Style can be complex and difficult but on the whole the story satisifes and is "complete."

(Think of Cormac McCarthy's style, for example.)

We all start writing simply because we want to. That's the fun part. I can actually get caught up in my own story as I'm writing it! But in the end, after I've had my fun I need to make sure the reader will have theirs.

So, have others read your work. Join a workshop. Get feedback. Be willing to make changes. Do your best to convey to the reader that you know why they are reading and that you appreciate their time and attention.