Audiences

I love what Ong is saying in this piece. A question I'm always asking is, "Who do we write for?" For me, she answered it.

Sometimes as students, in an academic setting, we are taught to write for what seems like an audience of teachers, professors, those who are familiar with the subject, who are critical of the subject. As creative writers, it seems we're taught that  we should imagine the specific audience that we'd like to enjoy or relate to our work.

I write for myself, and I think that's what Ong is saying. we should always write for ourselves. By writing for ourselves, we can guarantee that others will relate to it. By writing for ourselves, we'll find truth. Writin solely for ourselves allows a level of introspection. Our audience will become those who relate to our piece. In other words, by writing for ourselves, we essentially leave the possibility of our audience open - the audience will choose our work, instead of us targeting them. It allows for a powerful interaction between the audience and the narrative due to the truth the author finds by being authentic.