In William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well, a contradiction has arisen; the first few chapters talk about how keeping the reader engaged with your work is critical, but then Chapter 5 tells me that I should write for myself and no one else. At first, it does seem like a contradiction. Make sure your writing won’t lose your reader’s attention, but don’t worry about what they think? After some thought, I’m beginning to understand the distinction he is trying to make; write confidently and freely about whatever you want to, but make sure there is a durable foundation for readers to follow. Worry about the reader when it comes to structure, not content.

This clicked when I realized- I’m the reader he is talking about. Here he is telling me what to do and not do as a writer, but I’m also the reader he apparently doesn’t care about. Ouch. After he hurt my feelings, I thought about why I am enjoying reading this book. It may be an assigned reading and not one that I would reach for otherwise (take that, William), but I’m enjoying the book nonetheless. Zinsser includes quick-witted commentary that has me outwardly scoff at the pages. He writes this way for him, not me, but that’s why it works. If he gave a second thought to whether or not I’d find what he said funny, he might’ve taken out the line in fear that he’d come off as dorky. If that was the case with all of the playful content he included, I would be bored. 

To hold a reader’s attention, regardless of the topic, a smooth foundation has to be laid.  It is important not to overthink your writing because it can turn into pointless mush the more you try to formalize it. In order to keep your reader’s attention, you’ve got to write something you’d like to read. This also helps with not feeling a particular way when it comes to the visibility/popularity of your work. I think the more time you spend harping over the “what ifs”, the more disappointing it would be if no one read it. This is similar to the all-too-common “the minute I loosened my grip, everything fell into place.” By writing for yourself, there are no expectations of how your audience will receive your work. Zinsser is not giving advice on how to make your work enjoyable for every type of reader, he is sharing how to write for the people who connect with you and will stick around for your authenticity. To me, I want to embody the audience I’m trying to reach, and then write for myself.

You are in charge of what goes and what doesn’t. If you only try to appeal to a certain audience, you are making your outreach pool too small. Writing for yourself first allows you to confidently make the points you hope to make, and if some people don’t get it, then it isn’t for them. It’s the same for art/design; if you are constantly trying to create for a certain “target” audience, you are not being truly authentic to the type of art you want to make for yourself. It then loses humility and passion, becoming just another project that never reached its full potential. You must leave everything on the dance floor, and only then will you see who defends your signature moves.