Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

The awesome co-hosts for the August 3 posting of the IWSG are Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery!

August 3 question – When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

Well, shoot. You can’t really get behind the way that question is phrased, can you?

I think we all know a reader or two who is into comfort reads in a big way. Here is a book. It follows a warm and familiar path to a warm and familiar ending. There are 127 of them in this series. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t write that kind of books. I’m not all that interested in them, and I think I’d be doing those readers a disservice, if I tried. I think I’d wind up resenting them, in the long run.

I think there are readers who want originality. I try to write for those readers. It’s as simple as that.

It’s the same as writing Science Fiction for people who want Science Fiction, or Romance for people who want Romance. You wouldn’t ask Do you write Romance, or do you try to give readers what they want? Because it’s the same thing. The readers find what they want. You just write the best damn books you can.

I don’t think it’s all that much of a leap of faith to believe that there are other people like me out there. If I enjoy writing the book, there are people who will enjoy reading it. And there you have it. My tiny little worldview in a nutshell.