The Dream Reader

“Every book, every volume, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”

Carlos Ruiz Zafon, THE SHADOW OF THE WIND

As I’m writing my current novels, I can see the soul of the woman I hope will read them.  

Is that woo-woo? Actually, it is. We’re fiction writers. We make stuff up and hope people will read it and believe in its truth. If there is no woo-woo in how we write … well, I’m not sure how that works.

This is kind of like knowing your audience, although that’s more general. That’s along the lines of I write for Christians (Buddhists, Democrats, etc.). Or, narrowed down some, I write for women (middle graders, macho men). Maybe you know your audience by genre. You have an idea who devours romance, a grasp of who loves them some literary fiction, who digs wizards and fairies. 

Good start. But it doesn’t get really real until we whittle this down to that one person whose face and posture and attitude and choice of pizza toppings is as clear to you as your own.

That’s your dream reader.

One specific person

This is the fun part, right? It happens to me, at least, when I sink into my dreams and envision that woman who is going to pick up my story and live and dream with it. 

Specific is the operative word. 

I like to ask myself some questions about her. Maybe this could work for you too?

What’s my first impression? Is she painfully awkward? Does she have “quirk” down to a science? Is she angry and doesn’t want to be. 

What does she want me to know about what she seeks in a book? Is she panting for something fresh? Is she an avid mystery fan so I’m going to have to work hard to baffle her? Has she suffered too much trauma and wants a hopeful ending?

What will make her want to toss a book across the room – or actually do it? Implausible solutions? F-word overload? A description of every blade of grass?

Most important, what does her soul cry out for, even if she doesn’t know it? Is it hope in the midst of a dystopian society? The true picture of what it’s like to be transgender or a woman of color? Spirituality that isn’t preachy and pat?  

And equally significant, what part of this reader is you?

An example

My novels for adults have always fallen into the category of women’s fiction. That’s my audience. In my current quartet of novels, I have a very particular reader in mind.  

She has always been driven, an accomplishment seeker. She has reached some form of success and has defined herself accordingly.

And she realizes there’s something missing. 

She’s bright. Educated. Attractive (even if she doesn’t see it through her critical filter) She’s made it on her own and is a force to be reckoned with in her world. 

And she’s just a little bit miserable.

Sometimes she wants to weep for no apparent reason, but she always dials herself back down to work. With little sense of the Divine, she’s never felt guided by something beyond herself, and yet something deep within her yearns for it. 

She’s told me her name is Maggie. Short for Magdalene, though call her that at your peril. She is ever before me as I write. We’ve even been out for coffee a few times.

She will only drink a pour-over. 

Your reader?

If you let yourself dream (at least, that’s been my experience), he, she, they will show up and say, Please write for me. Me. 

Maybe take her shopping. Or dig in a garden side by side. Or run five miles together at a talkable pace. 

Then tell the story that reader longs for. 

If you want to comment …

Who sits at the top of your laptop and says Tell me the story I need to hear? 

Can you see them right down to their socks? Yeah, that’s what we’re talkin’ about.

Until next time,

Scribble On!