or, What Would You Like on Your Pizza? Anne Lamott compares writing for the reader to hosting a party. Your house, but design the party for your guests!
Funny, my wife and I have talked about building a stone pizza oven outside too. But it’s never happening.
I really enjoyed this piece Graham, but I find myself struggling when I think about the questions you’ve posed. I think I’m mostly writing for myself—to help myself figure things out (with “things” construed very broadly)—but I’m trying to do so while being very conscious that my audience will only stick with me if they feel my writing is meeting their needs. I think that means that they can participate in the problem-solving and discovery, because those things are fairly universal. I very much do not want to be a self-absorbed writer, and yet I’m mostly writing about self-discovery … so I try to manifest humility and openness to being wrong.
Yeah, building a stone pizza oven is like one of those romantic fantasies, like going to Paris for lunch or sailing around the world. *Some* people do it -- just enough to teasingly (infuriatingly?) keep those notions within the realm of possibility...
I see your Substack as the perfect example of writing for yourself *and* your readers (and for others reading this comment, check out Tom's Substack here: https://tompendergast.substack.com/). Sure, you write about personal experiences, but as you say, you touch on universal themes. I've noticed you trying different writing/storytelling techniques as well -- you obviously go out of your way to draw your readers into your world!
Some of the best writing is about self-discovery; in my experience, it's the techniques used and the writer's willingness to explain that path to enlightement in a way that the reader can understand that makes it successful.
Pizza oven. Cross-country bike trip. Hiking the Cascade Crest trail. Building a sauna in my back yard (okay, this is mostly Sara’s idea.) I think part of getting older and wiser is realizing that it’s okay to let some of these go. Not that I have, completely. Thanks for those kind words Graham. I’m just gonna keep trying to crack that nut. It’s the trying that matters.
I don’t remember this quote from Anne Lamott but wow it resonates!! And pizza is the world’s most perfect food, so… yeah, I’ll be posting this one in the office.
Ha - seeing as you are the consummate hostess *and* writer, I'm not surprised Lamott's message resonates with you! I'm only surprised we didn't talk about this sooner... lol
In fact, I'm wondering now why I didn't tell the story of the last writerly pizza party you hosted. And that one *did* feature a brick pizza oven (better than the one in the video even)...
I do agree, pizza is the world's most perfect food!
Funny, my wife and I have talked about building a stone pizza oven outside too. But it’s never happening.
I really enjoyed this piece Graham, but I find myself struggling when I think about the questions you’ve posed. I think I’m mostly writing for myself—to help myself figure things out (with “things” construed very broadly)—but I’m trying to do so while being very conscious that my audience will only stick with me if they feel my writing is meeting their needs. I think that means that they can participate in the problem-solving and discovery, because those things are fairly universal. I very much do not want to be a self-absorbed writer, and yet I’m mostly writing about self-discovery … so I try to manifest humility and openness to being wrong.
Yeah, building a stone pizza oven is like one of those romantic fantasies, like going to Paris for lunch or sailing around the world. *Some* people do it -- just enough to teasingly (infuriatingly?) keep those notions within the realm of possibility...
I see your Substack as the perfect example of writing for yourself *and* your readers (and for others reading this comment, check out Tom's Substack here: https://tompendergast.substack.com/). Sure, you write about personal experiences, but as you say, you touch on universal themes. I've noticed you trying different writing/storytelling techniques as well -- you obviously go out of your way to draw your readers into your world!
Some of the best writing is about self-discovery; in my experience, it's the techniques used and the writer's willingness to explain that path to enlightement in a way that the reader can understand that makes it successful.
Thanks for the insights!
Pizza oven. Cross-country bike trip. Hiking the Cascade Crest trail. Building a sauna in my back yard (okay, this is mostly Sara’s idea.) I think part of getting older and wiser is realizing that it’s okay to let some of these go. Not that I have, completely. Thanks for those kind words Graham. I’m just gonna keep trying to crack that nut. It’s the trying that matters.
I don’t remember this quote from Anne Lamott but wow it resonates!! And pizza is the world’s most perfect food, so… yeah, I’ll be posting this one in the office.
Ha - seeing as you are the consummate hostess *and* writer, I'm not surprised Lamott's message resonates with you! I'm only surprised we didn't talk about this sooner... lol
In fact, I'm wondering now why I didn't tell the story of the last writerly pizza party you hosted. And that one *did* feature a brick pizza oven (better than the one in the video even)...
I do agree, pizza is the world's most perfect food!