The Undiscovered Country

Meeting Expectations

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time.

Not necessarily to avoid a certain pain, or to prevent a terrible mistake, however. Those I don't want to go back for, because those pains and those mistakes molded me into the person I am today. And I like me.

I want to go back to the times when I wrote solely for myself. Then, the only person I risked disappointing was me. I didn't feel the need to censor myself, and I didn't have to worry about what others would think, or fear that they would hate me for being me.

Part of me hates the idea of publishing, because I feel I now have to write less for me, and more for others. And how am I supposed to know -- while I'm writing -- whether or not I meet their expectations? How will I know beforehand if those words I spilled out onto the page have angered, insulted or otherwise broke some rule of writing that will, in the end, push them away?

And yet, it was that "writing for me," that attracted readers in the first place. I've always written better when I write without fear of consequence, when I wrote naked (figuratively speaking).

As a reader, I prefer honesty above all else. Even if I may disagree with what a writer says, if what they say is written with honesty and passion, I'll never hate them for it. I may get angry, or frustrated, but that can also be a good thing. I like to be challenged, to see things from a different perspective.

I can't be alone in that.

I don't want to disregard my readers. Never that, but at the same time, I can't allow my fear of what readers will think simply because I'm being honest. If I do, all that's left is to lie.

I can't do that either.

I'm reading "Writing 21st Century Fiction," by Donald Maass, and the basic premise is for writers to quit holding back. What readers are looking for these days is no-holds-barred stories. Stories that make a person cringe, cry, infuriate, and want to sleep with the lights on, as well as laugh and go "Awwww."

Because I want to write for a particular market, I'm trying to write stories that will meet their expectations. But what if my biases -- and expectations -- of that market are wrong, and they want to see the kind of writing I'm longing to write, but afraid to?

I go back to Jesus and his stories. He told stories that convicted and angered as well as inspired and comforted. He didn't hold back, and if I am to live how he lived (which is what he asks of all of us), I can't afford to. Not if I want my stories to make a real difference.