Who do you write for?

I am often asked who I think of when I am writing my YA novel. I would love to say that I write purely for myself or that I visualize an amorphous young adult audience. If truth be told, I do not write these stories for anyone but my wife and daughters.

I can hear the groans rising from the peanut gallery already, but hear me out. My wife, who has stuck with me for over thirty-six years, is a brilliant storyteller and a best-selling author of children’s books. She can spot a terrible idea or a stray plotline a mile off. And both of my twenty-something daughters are smart, talented, and incapable of suffering fools.

I am a simple soul. Like Pavlov’s dog, I perform for the immediate reward. I crave their praise and find myself cut to the quick when it is not forthcoming. I have spent many a sleepless night hammering away at revisions so I can present the rewrites to my audience of three when we are all together.

Once they love it, then it is ready for my critique group, the developmental editor, and yet more rewrites.

It seems to work, for now. I would love to hear from you about your process.