So!

I'm really happy you asked this question. And want to say, the fact that you're asking it... means you didn't miss anything.

In Chuck's book on writing he has this refrain that gets repeated about how the more friends you have the more graves you have to mourn. That sad bittersweet idea, resonated. I've been lucky to avoid it. For the most part. But there are other endings... it's not just death.

So there's that. Which you caught.

And then the second thing that came up was this idea of holding the reader like a friend. Really caring deeply for them. In Chuck's writing, from what I've read, you aren't left at the end of the book with questions. With MUCH of my writing you are.

I keep secrets. And particularly here in this work, I am sharing a story but I am holding on to that story covetously. I want to get it down and out, but the writing is FOR ME, rather than you, the reader.

What Chuck showed me, was the best authors, write FOR others, not just for themselves. That there is a way to write for your audience and hold your audience like you'd hold a friend, because that's what they are too you.

When other writers attempt this, a lot of times their writing becomes saccharine and bland. His doesn't.

And it's because he has such a clear understanding of his AVATAR. (Marketing speak I suspect you're familiar with.) And when he hones in on that Avatar. He repels all sorts of other avatars. Being okay with saying, "If my writing isn't for you, it isn't for you." Allows him to speak to his audience authentically. And lets us as readers feel like he's writing for himself. It has that feeling. This guy doesn't give a fuck, he's going to write what he wants to write.

But that's not exactly true. He's writing to a very specific audience in a very specific way.

When I was growing up, I heard all the time, "Art should be for yourself. You should be a starving artist to remain true to your work."

Chuck appeared to be the epitome of that. But that's not what he's doing. He's tenderly writing to an audience that he's close too. He cares deeply about the people he cares about. His fans.

I admire that.

But in this piece, I reject it.