Every reader is a narcissist.
Hold on, there. Don’t get all mad and sassy yet. Let me explain
I often tell developing writers, “No one reads about other people; we read only about ourselves.” Go ahead and quote me, just be sure to give me credit and send me the royalties it produces.
Seriously, I think it’s true. For example, I read several memoirs every year. And many of them are about writers or people who, say, quit their high-paying jobs in Manhattan and built a cabin deep in the Maine woods where they lived off the land and learned to speak to wolves and bears. Why do I read those kinds of memoirs over and over again? Because that’s what I am or want to do. Those books are primarily about me, not about the author.
Every reader who scans a bookstore shelf or a book-selling website is asking (if subconsciously), “What’s in it for me?” It’s not about the author’s agenda, but the reader’s needs. And any writer who doesn’t connect with the reader’s self-interest, implicitly or explicitly, is unlikely to publish and sell.
I met with a developing writer recently who said she wanted, in her book, to convince readers of their need for her message.
“Nope,” I said.
“Nope?”
“Nope. Won’t work.”
“What won’t work?”
“Your reader hasn’t yet bought your book, let alone read it.”
“Yes, I know,” she said.
“So you can’t write a book to convince your reader that she needs your book.”
You’d have thought a daffodil had just sprouted out of the top of my head. She blinked. She shook her head. She asked me to repeat what I’d just said.
“You can’t write a book to convince your reader that she needs your book.”
I saw understanding slowly register in her expression. Then disappointment. “So,” she said, “I can’t help my reader see the need for my book.”
“No. You have to figure out what need the reader already feels. You can’t accomplish your agenda; you have to discover the reader’s agenda, and maybe look for an intersection of her need and your message.”
She leaned back in her chair. “But that—that’s going to change everything.”
I smiled. “Exactly.”
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Bob,
When Dan Balow was still a Steve Laube agent, I met with him to pitch my book at a conference. I’ve been trying to internalize the significance of one question he asked me and my response ever since, and your post today exactly “nails” it. Thanks!
Dan asked me WHY I wrote the historical novel series, and I was caught completely off guard. I hadn’t even thought about the why. I went into full teacher mode. I said I think there are things most people don’t know about history that they should that they would consider more palatable if it were embedded in fiction. That off-the-cuff answer was completely honest and very revealing. It was all about ME sharing what truths I thought readers should learn through my fiction. ZINGER! But fiction isn’t curriculum. I need to be thinking about what the reader already wants to know and meeting that need. I’ve read that the Bible verse that says, “Bring up a child in the way he should go…” might be better translated that we are to create within the child an appetite or hunger for the way he should go. THAT’s when he won’t depart from it. And that’s more like what the writer of fiction needs to do than my poorly considered remark was, too–with each glimpse of a cover, notice of a title, or reading of a page, the readers should develop more of an appetite for or desire for what’s coming next, and it’s our job to make sure what comes next is good.
The sprouted daffodil was unforgettable. I love your blogs, a fun and informative read always.
You hit a homerun with your insightful statement that writer’s need to intersect with a reader’s need and a writer’s message! I’ll be bringing this thought to my critique group and shifting my writing as I grapple with this new mind set.
I like it!
Fascinating! I hadn’t thought of that before!
I was going to say, “I like your way of stating helpful advice.” But that wouldn’t appeal to YOUR narcissistic bent. So instead, I will say, “Your way of stating advice is so helpful.” .
Thanks for making it palatable. And…I’m glad I’m no further in my WIP. Now I don’t have to go back and re-write everything!
Your thesis supports the number one rule in writing: “Reader First!”
I’ve decided I need to get up before 5 AM to read your blog and get a reply. 😉