Some say that you should know your readers and write for them. Take the time to have a clear understanding of who your readers are and what they are trying to gain from stopping what they are doing and reading your work. Capture their hearts with your words quickly and don't make them regret giving you their time. Respect them enough to challenge their intellect and their ability to take a journey with you. While others say, write for an audience of ONE. Write for yourself --to learn and to grow. Don't be consumed with what others might think of your choice of adjectives when describing a rainbow. If to you, the rainbow appears stale, then describe those stagnant colors to the best of your ability and don't fall into the trap of writing to please others.
It's a quandary. And I believe in both. When it comes to writing, there are no simple answers because there are no simple people. I happen to live with an unsimple person. This complicated girl is my 'E' word, she has been for quite a long time. Emily Jean is my complicated love. The daughter I've raised. She told me yesterday that my 'E' word had better be Emily, which was funny to me, because she rarely reads my blog. But, because I am wanting to entice her into reading my heart, I will write for my reader.
In 42 days and 11 hours, Emily Jean will walk down the isle. She will begin a new kind of life. Different than the one she has always known. For the first time in her life, she won't live with the family that she has always known. I am filled with excitement for her to discover so much about herself and about marriage. Like her mother, she has chosen wisely; her husband-to-be will surely lead her with strength and compassion. He loves her with such intensity, it is easy to see his faithful gentleness towards her.
I am blessed by my Emily, my 'E' word for today, but what's in a name? I think of the other Emily's I have known. There have only been a few. There was Emily Rose, she was the first Emily I knew. While I was pregnant with my Emily, I called the 3-year-old's Mother (from across the Nation) to seek her permission in the use of the name. There is Emily Danae, a sweet soul who I adore! She is weeks away from holding her first child, her son...a little boy called Jack. Then there is Emily Jane who just recently walked the isle, to begin a new life with one of the most extraordinary young men I have yet to meet.
Shortly after Emily Jean was born, my Mother came across a book entitled, Bringing Up Emily, written by Dave Begal. It was an interesting read for a new mother. The author's child was a handful, with a mind of her own. I laughed as Mr. Begal described the day that his Emily called the family lawyer to inquire about being adopted away from her parents, to avoid having to move to a new city. While this was his reality--for me it was fiction. And as I think of it now, it's funny how life does imitate fiction in so many ways. Perhaps, Mr. Begal knew that the people who would pick up his book would have their own Emily at home. Perhaps as he told his tales of raising a young woman with a complicated temperament, he was merely writing for his readers.
