WRITE HERE
Writing Prompts: Who Do You Write For?
This week’s writing prompts ask you to consider your reader
There are as many reasons to write as there are writers. But if you publish your work in any public format, it’s likely that you’re a reader — and that you hope to connect with readers. To me, one of the strangest conundrums of writing is that in order to write, I usually have to pretend no one will ever read what I’m working on — but then in order to make that work succeed, I have to keep to reader in mind. Whoa, right?
So what about you? Who is the person you write for? And as a reader, how do you connect to the things you read?
Need to set aside time to write to these prompts (or to write something else?) My colleague Harris Sockel and I will be hosting open writing hours on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. ET, through March 31. You can use this meeting link to join (the passcode is: Medium).
Please feel free to drop a link in the responses to this post — we want to read your work!
THIS WEEK’S PROMPTS
Your ideal reader
Who do you have in mind when you write? This can be a specific person or a type of person. Maybe you’re a journaller who writes for your own future self. Maybe you’re hoping to write articles for people just starting out in your field. Maybe you’re an aspiring YA novelist who hopes to write a book that the 14-year-old-you needed to read. Who is the reader you most wish to reach?
The life-changing idea
What’s a book or article (or peer-reviewed study or poem or bit of research…) that made you rethink your work/life/self? What part of it really blew your mind?
Dear Writer:
Ever write a letter to an author you admired? If so, what moved you to do so, and did they ever write back? And/or: Write a letter to a writer now. A novelist whose book you love, someone who wrote an essay that seemed to articulate everything you were thinking, the thought leader who penned the article that made you change careers…whoever you wish you could reach out to!
QUESTIONS ABOUT WRITE HERE?
Leave them in the responses and we will try to address them all. Don’t forget to check back here every Monday for new prompts and tips. And check back on Fridays, when we post highlights from creators’ responses to these prompts!
Write Here guidelines and last week’s prompts:
