Your audience is tiny
Oh, hi friends!
I was thinking about the best advice I’ve ever heard about writing, or making creative things in general.
And I’m not sure if this is the best, but it’s certainly one useful tactic.
Write it for one person.
Make it for one person.
Instead of making everyone laugh or illustrating your point for a huge group, what would it look like if you spoke to one single person?
Your best friend, grandpa, Nora Ephron. Anyone.
If you’re feeling stuck or blocked, make your audience as small as possible, and make it someone who you know.
You don’t necessarily have to send it to them, but while you’re creating, keep your intention crystal clear.
Make them laugh. Teach them something. Do it for them.
“The dynamic of friendship is almost always underestimated as a constant force in human life: a diminishing circle of friends is the first terrible diagnostic of a life in deep trouble: of overwork, of too much emphasis on a professional identity, of forgetting who will be there when our armored personalities run into the inevitable natural disasters and vulnerabilities found in even the most average existence.
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But no matter the medicinal virtues of being a true friend or sustaining a long close relationship with another, the ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self; the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.”
— David Whyte
(Many thanks to Brass Ring reader Bob Beverley for sending.)
Here’s a new book that might interest you: Overground Railroad: The Green Book & Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor.
Candacy and I worked on a piece together many moons ago when I was an editor at The Daily Beast. But the funny thing is…I worked with many writers on individual stories and couldn’t tell you what many of them are up to now. But Candacy has always stayed in touch, letting me know when she’s in town, what she’s working on, and I’ve felt inspired and invigorated by her diligence and progress. That’s one reason to share your work with the people around you — you’ll continue to be on their minds year after year.
Now her latest book was just released. She’s been working on it since 2013. I can’t stop thinking about that. Seven years of research, interviews, and a drastically changed news cycle (not to mention that Oscar winning movie…). Now it’s finally here! Check it out and share it with your friends. By the way, Candacy also curated a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition opening June 2020 at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Like I said…diligence and progress.
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara