Let's Be Honest... Who Do You Write For?

This is a post a long time in the making. Which makes sense considering I haven't written a proper, pure discussion post in a long while now, as I've been slumping pretty hard blog-wise. But every time I thought to myself "what post should I write next?" THIS is what came immediately to mind;

Who do I write for?

This blog is not very popular. In a lot of ways, perhaps in all the ways that matter as an online blog, it's not a success. I'm hesitant to say it is a "failure", but that is perhaps the most accurate description. No doubt a huge part of that is my fault, as I post irregularly at best and not at all at worst.

The facts remain that my average comment number on any given post is a huge zero and I only have about one reader who comments regularly (hey Stephanie! *waves*). It's nothing like my very first blog in 2012, where I got between three and five comments a post. I thought that was lame back there and was disappointed by it. I find that ironically hilarious.

That old blog closed because of the same thing that is happening now; irregular posting schedule, low interactive-ness, etc etc. But whereas I had so many thoughts of closing down the blog back then, of moving on, I do not have those same thoughts now.

For all the disappointment of getting no reads, and the huge slump of not reviewing many of the books I read... I've never thought about stopping reviewing books on this blog. This made me wonder... who, exactly, do I write for? What has changed since 2014?

Any reviewer who tells you they are not writing for others to read is lying. If we weren't writing for you to read it, we would do so on a personal journal that no one ever has to see. If I didn't want you to read this very post, I wouldn't have put it online where it's available to y'all.

We all wish and hope others will read and enjoy what we're putting out there. It's part of the magic of reviewing and this whole community in general. Where fandoms have fanart and fanfiction, the Bookish Fandom has reviews and discussion posts and tags.

And yet, I find myself replying to the aforementioned question with...

I am writing for myself.

Now, don't be thinking it's an altruistic desire... because it's not that at all. If anything, this is as selfish as I can possibly be. I am putting this content out there for the chance someone could enjoy it and maybe even validate me and my opinion a little bit (hey, I'm just a human), but the content itself is written for me.

Because it gives me something incredible. It gives me a shortened re-reading experience... without ever cracking the book open.

Do you have any idea how many times in the past I have encountered a book, or a movie, or an anime, or a show, that I have read/watched... and yet I can't remember anything about it? There is nothing more frustrating to me than looking at a cover or a title and drawing blanks despite knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I have spent time in this world.

It bothers me on such a personal, deep level.

But you know what happens when I have written a review on whatever it was? the words on the page trigger a slew of memories. I am suddenly able to put myself where I was when I read, what I read, what I thought, where before there was nothing. I am able to relive the emotions and have a shortened re-experience with the novel.

Be it good or bad, I am able to remember.

I love this. I love doing this and being able to recall what a book made me think and feel because of the words I put down on it in a review.

So I'm not going to stop this blog, even if I write barely five posts a month, on a good month. Because at the end of the day, while it's online so other people could read and enjoy it when I can just have a notebook for all those thoughts (although, let's be honest, at this point this blog is dead enough to be considered a personal notebook), I still write for myself. For that ability to re-read the novel through my review. And if I could maybe make some else feel emotions through this, all the better :)

Side note: if you're looking for more consistent content from me, friend or follow me on GR. There are a lot of thoughts that don't appear on this blog simply because I don't put unedited reviews on here. On GR, though, I puke all my thoughts straight after finishing a novel and then later edit them for the blog. So it's a lot more consistent, if also a lot messier.

Pop Culture References in Literature | Yay or Nay?

In contemporary novels a device often used by authors to place us in the here and now are pop culture references. You will not be surprised to find name drops such as One Direction, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and the likes between the pages; in conversation, thought or setting.

Now, I get why this happens. I even use it sometimes, myself. But then a question sometimes pops into my head: is there such a thing as too much pop culture references... and can they be a danger to the novel?

This originally came to me when I was reading No Interest in Love and then I dilly-dallied with it and forgot.

Anyways, in No Interest In Love a crucial part of the plot hangs on the main character's love to Barney Stinson from the show How I Met Your Mother. A show that ended two years ago. And it's mentioned a lot, and somewhat depends on the reader's love to this character as well.

Probably, this pop-culture reference can hold for about three more years, no more. Because people will forget about this show. People will no longer know who Barney Stinson is or won't know it as well. The girl who was 12 when the show ended will have no idea why it's endearing for the main character to like Barney - or what it really says about him.

So, alongside this pop-culture reference, the book will be dated too.

And at the end of the day, don't you want to create something timeless? Don't you want people to read your stories one hundred years from now? Isn't that the DREAM when it comes to writing? Aren't you afraid those pop-culture references will make your story disappear as they do?

I know that when I write, I am. There's always this voice worrying when I write a reference to something in RL.

Of course, I have seen this done (what I consider) "correctly". I've seen it sparkled sparsely so we get the times, but the story doesn't relay on it. If someone reads it ten years from now they might not know the person, but they will get what he is. Like, they may not know One Direction but from the way it's mentioned they will know it's THE boy band of this world.

My preferred method is making up pop culture references. This way, no matter when you read it, it's still "current" and paints a contemporary picture . No one is going to go "oh, I don't know what this is" because it doesn't exist in real life, yet their RL counterparts will always exist. (because, let's face it, there is always going to be the boy band, or the band or the actor).

So to me, this method is the best. So, in the end of the day, it's not Yay or Nay for me but... Sort Of?

So, anyways. Do you share my feelings? Do too many Pop Culture references make you pause? Do they make you wonder on the longevity of the story? And in short... Yay or Nay?