• slightly
• moment
• roiling
• dart 
• glance
• realize
• felt

I admit, some of these are weirder than others.  But these are the words that I always do a search on when I finish a draft, just to make sure they aren’t taking up too much space.  It’s always a challenge to find new ways of wording things, but, like every part of the editing process, it often leads to unexpected changes that make the story better, or – more often than not – the discovery that the whole sentence is unnecessary.  God gave writers the drafting process so we could be astounded by our own creativity, and the editing process to keep us humble.

Whenever I hear an author say something like, “I wrote the book for myself – I really didn’t think about readers”, I  want to gag.

Warning: This post may have been inspired by reading just such a comment from a well-known author after finally reading the brutally disappointing final book in said author’s series.  I am not naming names, but if you have read the book, you can probably guess who I mean.

But this author is not the only one, by any means – you see those kinds of comments all the time:

“I was really writing it for myself.”

“I never really thought about how other people would see it.”

“I just had this relationship with my characters – I had to write the story, for me.”

Goat piffle, I say.  Having been on this long, arduous journey toward publication for almost ten years now, I can tell you that, if you really want to get published, there’s no way you can NOT think about your readers.  At first, it’s specific readers: your betareader, your critique group.  Then it widens: the poor put-upon editorial assistant who has to wade through the slush pile.  The agents you query.  The editors.  And of course, always, the people you hope will one day read your book.

So when you first write that story down, and it’s just you and the first draft – okay, maybe THEN you can write just for yourself.  But if you get a book deal and you have editors and agents and all manner of people tearing your manuscript apart to make it better – there is no way you can forget to think about your readers, because all those people will remind you constantly that you have to think of them.

Maybe part of the reason I feel so strongly about this is that, in every aspect of my life, I am a communicator.  As a librarian, I have to think about what my patrons need and how best to communicate that information to them.  As an interpreter, I darn well better consider how best to convey the source message and who the target audience is, or I can’t do my job.  And as a writer, I am communicating a message too – only it’s through a story and theme and characters and setting.  But I am always thinking about how readers will see it, and what they need to navigate the story and feel the emotions of the characters.  If I am not thinking about the people receiving the message, then what the heck is the point of trying to communicate it in the first place?

There are many authors I admire, but there are a handful whose books make me sigh and say, “That’s how I want my readers to feel after reading one of my books.”  Megan Whalen Turner.  Rachel Hartman.  Kristin Cashore.  That feeling right there – that’s what made me brave enough to start writing in the first place.

If you’re not thinking about your readers, then you’re just shouting into the universe and not even listening for a reply.

Back in May, I read this excellent post by Larissa Graham  on the SCBWI MD/DE/VA blog.  She sang the praises of writing software, Scrivener in particular.  I was intrigued.  Maybe I would find grand new vistas of productivity if I just found the right software!

So I downloaded the demos for Scrivener and a few other programs, eager to give them a try…but as soon as I opened them up, I knew that specialized writing software is not for me.  They do have neat features.  For example,  in Scrivener, you can organize plot and character information on “corkboards” and easily assemble a synopsis.  I can see how these programs would be valuable in organizing your manuscript and save time.

But here’s the thing: I am the kind of person who procrastinates by organizing my to-do list.  (I have a very long to-do list, which, believe it or not, includes things like “Breathe”.  That’s to remind me to stop and take a few deep breaths every now and then.)  I could get swallowed up by all the bells and whistles and never actually write a thing.

I need the freedom and tyranny of the blank page, or I will never get anything done.

And, I admit, I need to have at least some of my notes on actual paper.  I like my notebooks full of world building and maps and drawings.  I like using index cards and post it notes in different ways at different times.

I like that writing isn’t something I’m trying to do as expeditiously as possible, like so many other things in my life.  It’s messy and it requires time to do it right.

And I am okay with that.