You can’t please all the people all the time. And anyone with an ounce of sense will tell you that trying to do so will put you on the fast track to pleasing no one. But that begs the question. Who are you talking to? With your stories.
Knowing your audience is Writing 101. Young or old? Black or white? City mouse or country mouse? And that’s just for starters. You should craft your characters, your stories, your themes specific to the audience you’re trying to reach. Too often writers try to reach everybody. And that’s where many fall short. Spreading their message too thin. Granted, some time-tested themes can transcend boundaries. But often they do not. No one said it was easy. Studios and networks spend millions of dollars each year analyzing personality traits and viewing habits of audiences to program content specific to demographics aligned with advertisers needs. But you’re just you. Trying to write a story. At home. In your kitchen. What do you do? Be thoughtful about the marketplace. What works. What doesn’t. What’s out there. What isn’t. I’m not suggesting you cater your creativity entirely to the whims of the world, but in an industry that requires millions of dollars of investment for development, production and distribution in order to succeed, it seems remiss not to at least consider it.
Some say write for yourself. Well, that’s fine if you want to be the only one to read it. Or watch it. But that’s not why we tell stories, is it? We want to entertain, educate, engage, enlighten, inspire and enrapture... others. I like to think there is common ground somewhere between the two approaches: The Personal and The Public. And therein often lie the seeds of our next story to devote six weeks, six months or six years of our lives to.
Strangely, some of the most successful filmmakers of all time lose sight of that. Recently, Martin Scorsese condemned Marvel Studios and its parent company for creating content less cerebral than, I guess, his. But the fact is Marvel dominated the global box office in 2019 and shows no sign of slowing down. Which means they, for better or for worse, have their finger on the pulse of what America, and perhaps the world, wants to see. Whereas, as I mentioned in a recent interview on GPB, Mr. Scorsese recently delivered a three-and-a-half-hour marathon of a film in "The Irishman" few moviegoers have the patience to sit through in a theater. It seems the studio knew this since they released it simultaneously on Netflix. But doesn’t that defeat the point? Of creating big screen stories that big audiences can enjoy en masse in movie theaters? What’s more is the film seemed highly derivative of Mr. Scorsese’s masterful past works. Why not try something new? And challenge yourself creatively.
Which brings me to my point. Write for the market. Write for yourself. Write something new.
Do these three things and you will be well on your way to writing something rewarding.
Blog