Thinking makes it so

/ J. F. Riordan

Who’s your audience? It’s a question asked of writers all the time. Agents want to know. Publishers want to know. Even book club readers want to know. Most writers know how to gauge our answers to meet our business needs. Of course, to be published, a book needs to meet customer demand. But, to be honest, most of the time that’s only a guess based on what has sold before, and demand can also be created by marketing teams and media campaigns.

So, while I am delighted to have my books published, I don’t think about any of that when I’m writing. I really only write for an audience of one: me.


I write the kinds of books I want to read, and to be honest, while I do read for information, I mostly read for comfort and companionship. When I had high-pressure, stressful day jobs, I didn’t want to come home to read high-pressure, stressful books. I taught in the inner city. I didn’t want to read about suffering, murder, crime, drug use, and lost opportunities. I lived with that every day. When I moved into an executive position, I still spent a great deal of time thinking about human misery and how to help alleviate it. Again, I was often in the inner city, visiting schools, homeless shelters, prisons, half-way houses, and addiction centers. I also had many uplifting experiences in the fine arts world, to be sure. But what hung with me was always the human traumas that went on before my eyes every day.

I don’t think I’m alone in that. Many people have intense, exhausting, high stress jobs. And some of them find catharsis in reading about intense things, perhaps because at the end of a well-written book, there can be a release of the built-up strains.

But that’s not for me. I want to go to a world where there is a group of characters who feel like friends I can hang out with. I want to look deeply at the small miracles of daily life. I want to feel enmeshed and revived by the creativity and joy of an ordinary day. And so, both in the novels I write, and in my books of essays, I linger on the hope, the joy, the beautiful and all the ways in which frustrations, unkindness, and misery can be diminished—although never eliminated—by the way we focus our attention.

And so, when I’m writing, my incentive is the pleasure I take in joining the worlds I’ve created. I write (mostly) about characters I want to be with, who live in a world I enjoy being in. Maybe that’s selfish. I don’t know.

But honestly, I don’t know any other way to write; I don’t think I could write a horror story if I had to. “Write what you know” is the old adage, and I really don’t think there’s any better advice. Luckily, based on my readers’ comments, the kinds of books I like are also liked by other people. And that’s a pretty good system, I think.

So now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to go hang out with some old friends.

Cheers.

***

Turkey in the Sky Addendum

Many of you couldn’t find the turkey in the photos yesterday. That’s because I don’t have a good zoom lens. But here’s the best I can do.

Today’s Gratuitous Dog Photo

He’s snoring.

19 thoughts on “Thinking makes it so”

  1. Eli has succumbed to that marvelous winter sunshine that warms you so well when enjoyed through a window. Our puppy Baron was snoring here yesterday afternoon too. It was so cute I had to make a video. When I was in elementary school I thought having a job as a travel writer would have been the coolest job in the world. The English language fascinated me. In high school I loved diagramming sentences. Once for extra credit, out instructor gave us the assignment to diagram the Preamble to the Constitution. I received an A+ for getting every word positioned perfectly. It is in fact a single sentence that runs along for an entire paragraph. I was blessed to have won the English department award in my graduating class of over 500 students. But over the years ideas change and I too found myself in one of those stressful jobs: working in a pharmacy. So I understand your feelings about high stress jobs. Enjoy your writing and thank you so much for your daily writings. I love to read them and never miss a chance to see those besutiful boys.

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  4. I love everything you write and am very much looking forward to your next book. The characters in your books are so much fun. I hope Eli’s snoring is providing a soothing background as you write.

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  5. I read for pleasure, not pain and suffering. Insight into character’s lives, their company, their friendship. That’s why I love a series like NOTTL. I’m invested and I can’t wait to see what they get up to next!

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  7. I am even more envious of having Eli as a friend than usual, it is very cold outside, -28C.
    I could use a large snuggle wolf for a friend today! 🐾😊😴

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  9. As a life-long visitor to Door, who enjoys exactly the kind of books you write, I’m so grateful you share their world with us. I found out about your books from my husband; he heard your husband mention them. Looking forward to the next one!

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  12. I love the characters in your books because they are like people that we could interact with or know. And they mostly seem to be intelligent, empathetic people. I have read all your North of the Tension Line series, the essays, and the sweet Pete book. I look forward to the next one.! I just finished reading The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. You might enjoy it since it deals with words.

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  13. I generally read nonfiction whose characters usually are in the news on a daily basis, very few of whom I would ever want to hang out with. Your books are such a nice respite. The characters are wonderful, although I am not sure I would enjoy having a drink with Roger!

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  14. The reason I enjoy your books so much is due to the community of characters you build. Add in the little quirks, foibles, basic humanity and you have a wonderful place where you wouldn’t mind living. Your writing also seems effortless.

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  15. Thanks for writing people I like to be with. I had a difficult job. After work, I took refuge mainly in murder mysteries, but not the scary, grisly kind. I like the ones with interesting detectives, in appealing settings. I think what I like most about a good murder mystery is the sense of closure and justice being done at the end. Some days it seems there just isn’t enough of that in the real world.

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