“No story lives unless someone wants to listen.” J.K Rowling
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It is half term and a chance to catch up on some reading. I am reading The Rumour by Lesley Kara; the brilliant Sunday Times bestseller with a killer twist.
And it gets me thinking about the transaction a writer makes with their reader; a bond of trust. The reader gives their time and commitment to the book and the writer must deliver, and preferably exceed, the reader’s expectations. (The Rumour does!)
As a writer, we must not underestimate what the reader bring to the book. A reader brings their own understanding of the genre, and an interpretation of our words through their life experience. They are expert at reading between the lines, and it is in the spaces between our words where the reader interprets our intention. It is in these spaces where we win their hearts and loyalty, or lose them.
To be a writer, we need to be readers first and to write the books we love to read; to understand the subtleties and codes of our chosen genre and deliver these with originality, conviction and insight and not to shortchange the expectation of the reader.
And it gets me thinking about the transaction a writer makes with their reader; a bond of trust. The reader gives their time and commitment to the book and the writer must deliver, and preferably exceed, the reader’s expectations. (The Rumour does!)
As a writer, we must not underestimate what the reader bring to the book. A reader brings their own understanding of the genre, and an interpretation of our words through their life experience. They are expert at reading between the lines, and it is in the spaces between our words where the reader interprets our intention. It is in these spaces where we win their hearts and loyalty, or lose them.
To be a writer, we need to be readers first and to write the books we love to read; to understand the subtleties and codes of our chosen genre and deliver these with originality, conviction and insight and not to shortchange the expectation of the reader.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:
read a lot and write a lot.”
Stephen King
