Writing for Fun, Writing for One

 

Photo by Sticker Mule on Unsplash

 

“Clang, clang, clang.  As I hear the fire engine roar down the block, I wonder, ‘Could this fire have been prevented?'”

When I was in the 4th grade, I won the Little Hot Spot Medal for writing the best essay in New York City on safeguarding the home against fire. The mayor pinned the medal on my chest at City Hall while the marine band played, and my parents stood proudly by.  I got the morning off school.

That’s when I decided this writing thing was kind of fun.

So Henriette Anne Klauser tells of her writing origins on her web site. I recently finished her Write It Down, Make It Happen (my second, perhaps third, read – I’ve had this book for a long time!), and just downloaded a Kindle version of Put Your Heart on Paper: Staying Connected in a A Loose-Ends World. I’m eager to dig in – she always shares such fun stories in her books – and also to have something light and engaging to read on an upcoming trip.

Klauser’s web site’s tagline, “Changing Your Relationship with Writing, Now and For All Time,” closes in on her unique gift. She believes that “all writing – whether it is a corporate paper, a legal brief, a non-fiction book, a novel or a short story – is a conversation, a dialogue between you and the reader. One human being talking to another human being. Even when I am writing to a large audience … I try to remember Kurt Vonnegut’s wisdom, ‘When you write, write for an audience of one and hope the rest of the world will like it.’”

My friend Jill may not know it, but she is my “audience of one.” Often, when I’m feeling stuck or overwhelmed with what I’m trying to say in a post, or while journaling to figure something out in my life, I retreat from the broad concepts and grand aspirations. I zero in on the idea of telling this one friend, who I don’t get to see often because she lives thousands of miles away but who sees the world the same way I do, whatever it is I want to say. I wouldn’t say she’s my muse. She represents my audience and I make my writing a letter to her – an update, a story, information about a new book or web site I’ve found. So, Hello, Jill. Thanks for being on the reading end.