Finding an Audience
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I’m attempting to write every day in March as part of the Slice of Life challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. Come on by!
Yes, I’m going to admit it – I perform better with an audience. Perhaps that’s why I loved being on stage in high school. Perhaps that’s why I love being a teacher. Perhaps that’s why this writing challenge has finally gotten me off my rear and made me write more.
Even before the Slice challenge started, I was branching out to find ways to make my voice be heard. As I mentioned before, I write comics reviews and a weekly Star Wars Thursday post for a friend’s website. I’ll be honest, though, I’m always afraid to ask him about page views. You see, my secret fear is that NO ONE is reading them. That I’m shouting into a canyon, but everyone has gone home for the day.
When Nerdy Book Club started up, I jumped on the chance to volunteer as a guest blogger. I put my name out there nervously, and then held my breath. One day, not too long after that, I got a DM. Would I like to write a Retro Review for the blog? Yes!! (“Oh crap,” I thought, “I hope it ends up good enough.” Yeah, perfectionism. That’s the topic for another slice.)
Twitter gives me a place to find audiences, which is both wonderful and terrifying. The SciFiNow magazine occasionally calls for short submissions from their readers. I jumped on the chance to give my students a voice, a way for their opinions about The Hobbit to reach a larger venue. They are jazzed to see their words in print, and so am I! This week I submitted a short piece about my favorite Game of Thrones character – Arya Stark. I hope it gets selected to run!
Every time I get an email saying that a comment appeared on my blog, I do a little happy dance. I post my links to Twitter using Bit.ly so I can see how many click throughs I got. I’m not greedy – I treasure every single read. Having an audience, though, that’s what motivates me.
Should I be so intent on having that audience? Should I be so anxious to find out how many people actually read it, or what they think? Shouldn’t I be content with writing for myself alone? Perhaps, but I thrive on the applause.
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