Who are we writing for?

If you write, write anything at all, you’ve probably written something that was not so good. It could have been a first draft that nobody saw or it could have been a final draft turned in at the last minute that you wish nobody saw. And it possibly could have been something that you loved with all your heart and everybody else hated. Something that you wanted to read over and over again, that you understood completely and was exactly what you were trying to convey: a small part of who you are. Then disaster struck as others read it and pointed out this flaw and that flaw, and used words that destroyed this little piece of your soul that was carefully put down on paper. They just didn’t get it.

What happens then?

Writing is a world where rejection comes by the tenfold and acceptance is a small percent. Critique builds up our writing and is there to make us better, but sometimes it tears us down. It is nearly impossible to take a step back and see what others see when you are the author. Because you get what you were writing better than anybody else-you wrote it! There is always time to go back and revise. At times, we know it needs it. At other times, it is just down right disheartening. At these times it is not okay to give up, hide under a blanket and succumb to a life without words. We must ask ourselves: who are we writing for? The answer should be: ourselves. I am writing for me. And if people hate something that I love, that is okay. It doesn’t matter. I can still pull out this or that essay and receive joy and satisfaction. Maybe this won’t be shared with anyone else, but it accomplishes what I wanted it. And maybe someday I will take all the critique that I learned from and write something that not only I will love, but others will love too. But if not, that’s okay. I’m writing for me.