Craft Chat 'Write for the top ten percent of your readers' - King

[David Newrick]

The quote 'Write for the top ten percent of your readers' is attributed to Stephen King.

After giving it a tremendous amount of thought I bore this in mind in my own writing for novels like Scenes From A Dying Planet and my WIP. Before I write anything on Litopia about my thoughts on this quote I just wondered what everyone else made of it. It always interests me to hear other people's point of view and, in the past, has led me to completely re-consider my original thoughts. So what does it mean to you?

 

[Pamela Jo]

I have no idea what this means. And it makes no sense to me.

 

[Hannah Faoileán]

Write the story you want to tell and want to read. Write it to be accessible to as many readers as possible. Read widely in your area of writing. Know your likely readership, but don't pigeonhole them. Don't pick and choose who they are and slant your narrative accordingly. That way you would only get 10% of your possible audience.

 

[David Newrick]

Write the story you want to tell and want to read. Write it to be accessible to as many readers as possible. Read widely in your area of writing. Know your likely readership, but don't pigeonhole them. Don't pick and choose who they are and slant your narrative accordingly. That way you would only get 10% of your possible audience.

That is a very interesting reply Hannah. I see where you are coming from, especially about slanting the narrative. I must admit though that I still find it hard to write the story I want to tell and want to read - I can never get over the fact that it is being written for others to read, not me.

Thanks for replying with your insights I really enjoy discussing writing craft in this way.

 

[David Newrick]

I have no idea what this means. And it makes no sense to me.

Hopefully we will both learn from people's comments Pamela Jo. I certainly hope so.

 

[Bloo]

Guess I don't read enough King, coz I wouldn't expect something like that from him. Is the quote from On Writing?

Without context, I've an entirely different take on the statement. It seems like he's telling us not to write to the lowest common denominator. Write to your fans and your genre, but not the mainstream. Not everyone will like your work, so don't dumb it down and fall into the trap of "accessible" writing.

The implicit statement here (to me, anyway) is if your writing's good enough for your base to rave about, the general public will follow.

I just crocheted an entire sweater (monkey sleeves, and all) from scrap of yarn, but that's what I'm feeling.

 

[Aethalope]

I think you've got it, @Bloo. That raving 10% is who will drive your word of mouth, care enough to challenge you when you're flagging, and offer insight and encouragement for the way forward.

Tangentially to this topic, have you seen this talk by Andy Weir? It looks like his 10% got him going on KDP.

 

[RK Wallis]

I'm with @Bloo and @Aethalope . I'm thinking the same thing. The more you focus writing on your particular audience, the more you're characters POP And if they love it, that audience becomes your word of mouth.

I think you've got it, @Bloo. That raving 10% is who will drive your word of mouth, care enough to challenge you when you're flagging, and offer insight and encouragement for the way forward.

Tangentially to this topic, have you seen this talk by Andy Weir? It looks like his 10% got him going on KDP.

I love that Andy Weir vlog. He's awesome

 

[Mel L]

Without context, I've an entirely different take on the statement. It seems like he's telling us not to write to the lowest common denominator. Write to your fans and your genre, but not the mainstream. Not everyone will like your work, so don't dumb it down and fall into the trap of "accessible" writing.

You nailed it, @Bloo ! My take exactly.

 

[Bloo]

I think you've got it, @Bloo. That raving 10% is who will drive your word of mouth, care enough to challenge you when you're flagging, and offer insight and encouragement for the way forward.

Tangentially to this topic, have you seen this talk by Andy Weir? It looks like his 10% got him going on KDP.

Oooh... I was thinking Andy Weir. Thanks for the video. I'll watch when I'm awake.

Goodnight.

 

[Bloo]

I'm with @Bloo and @Aethalope . I'm thinking the same thing. The more you focus writing on your particular audience, the more you're characters POP And if they love it, that audience becomes your word of mouth.



I love that Andy Weir vlog. He's awesome

I want SO much to write like this.

 

[Bloo]

You nailed it, @Bloo ! My take exactly.

Great minds...

 

[Pamela Jo]

But those would be YOUR readers. Of course you write to your readers. WHY are you dividing them into those who aren't worth listening to and those who are, esp a mere ten percent. How are you going to truly differentiate between the good and the bad? Aren't you essentially just choosing the ones that give you confirmation bias... I viscerally dislike the idea of dismissing the vast majority of readers (90 percent) who are willing to read you all the way to the end. WTH. If King said this-this cant be what he means. In other writing he has said he writes for the lower common denominator which is why he uses words like snot (UGHH) constantly. He's a working class guy and even tho he was an English teacher that was who he wrote Carrie, The Stand, etc for.

Because that is NOT the way to read the market or the room. Some of the best advice I've seen was write what you want but sell to teh zeitgeist. Now that only goes so far-if you want to be read you also have to pay attention to the zeitgeist when you write. You cannot write in the style of Jane Auston today and get read even though the zeitgeist LOVES the genre. Bridgerton author on the other hand read the zeitgeist and wrote what she wanted and hit the jackpot.

 

[Bloo]

But those would be YOUR readers. Of course you write to your readers. WHY are you dividing them into those who aren't worth listening to and those who are, esp a mere ten percent. How are you going to truly differentiate between the good and the bad? Aren't you essentially just choosing the ones that give you confirmation bias... I viscerally dislike the idea of dismissing the vast majority of readers (90 percent) who are willing to read you all the way to the end. WTH. If King said this-this cant be what he means. In other writing he has said he writes for the lower common denominator which is why he uses words like snot (UGHH) constantly. He's a working class guy and even tho he was an English teacher that was who he wrote Carrie, The Stand, etc for.

Because that is NOT the way to read the market or the room. Some of the best advice I've seen was write what you want but sell to teh zeitgeist. Now that only goes so far-if you want to be read you also have to pay attention to the zeitgeist when you write. You cannot write in the style of Jane Auston today and get read even though the zeitgeist LOVES the genre. Bridgerton author on the other hand read the zeitgeist and wrote what she wanted and hit the jackpot.

That's why it didn't sound like King to me. Yet I haven't read On Writing or follow him closely, so I prolly missed or misunderstood something.

I think whoever wrote this was being inclusive, not overtly exclusive. To me it reads like, "don't abandon the core 10% to satisfy the 90%. I think the implication is the focusing on the target you aim for is what makes your work stand out in a crowd. Yeah... I'm crocheting another sweater - this one's out of belly-button lint.

Andy Weir wrote to geeks in The Martian. He geeked out again in Project Hail Mary. Two bestselkers and two movie deals. By focusing on the readers who truly got it, a lot more sought those books out coz they also wanted to get it.

Zeitgeist is great when you catch it in time, and have the flexibility to adapt. Unfortinately, I'm not productive or flexible enough to pull it off.

 

[Pamela Jo]

That's why it didn't sound like King to me. Yet I haven't read On Writing or follow him closely, so I prolly missed or misunderstood something.

I think whoever wrote this was being inclusive, not overtly exclusive. To me it reads like, "don't abandon the core 10% to satisfy the 90%. I think the implication is the focusing on the target you aim for is what makes your work stand out in a crowd. Yeah... I'm crocheting another sweater - this one's out of belly-button lint.

Andy Weir wrote to geeks in The Martian. He geeked out again in Project Hail Mary. Two bestselkers and two movie deals. By focusing on the readers who truly got it, a lot more sought those books out coz they also wanted to get it.

Zeitgeist is great when you catch it in time, and have the flexibility to adapt. Unfortinately, I'm not productive or flexible enough to pull it off.

There is no core ten percent. That's not how readers work. If the message is dont give up quality... that probably has more to do with publishers and agents not wanting to take risks than knowing your readers. Readers will recognise quality -even those who read trashy romances know when something like Rebecca rises above and appeals ot a broader audience. They may be addicts, but they know when the good stuff hits their cortex.

My thoughts remain the same, write what you want but make sure the story is clear and satisfactory to readers. Don't make it an exercise in self-pleasuring. Listen to Beta readers (good point are they supposed to be your ten percent "worthy" readers or the 90 percent of hoi polloi?)

I say King had nothing to do with this quote. I have read his books on writing and a lot of what he says is based on his experience as a kid who grew up in. household where becoming a writer was as likely as him being bitten by a spider and becoming a superhero. He Never would have said anything so denigrating to people willing to pay money for a book and read it to the end.

 

[Bloo]

He Never would have said anything so denigrating to people willing to pay money for a book and read it to the end.

I don't read it as denigrating. If it was written as, "don't write for the bottom 90% of your readers", then yeah. Otherwise, I feel the advice is much more inclusionary than exclusionary. The ten percent matter, too.

I do agree it doesn't sound like King, though.