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    </div><p id="e666">And then I had that moment.</p><p id="7c1b" type="7">That one where you read your own writing and want to punch yourself in the face.</p><p id="c070">No? Just me?</p><p id="c2fb">I was re-editing the part about Audience and Ideal Reader, and I was cringing. I said to myself, it’s okay, I’m not writing this for me. I’m writing this for the me that I was 10 years ago when I needed this information. It’s all so… neurotypical. It reads (to me now), like a neurodivergent trying to write for neurotypicals (which is exactly what it was).</p><h1 id="57e1">The line that had me cringing</h1><p id="8c98">Then I read the line that made me physically ill and I didn’t know if I could leave it in there.</p><blockquote id="e377"><p>Know your market, and then write the book they want you to write.</p></blockquote><p id="b847">That feels so wrong now. It feels so, gross.</p><p id="d4cd">So I adjusted the wording slightly into something that didn’t make me gag.</p><blockquote id="a5ce"><p>Know your market and then write the book they need to read.</p></blockquote><p id="5341">A little better, but still icky. Luckily, instead of getting stuck on it, I read the next lines and I must say, I sighed in relief.</p><blockquote id="e2df"><p>There is a caveat to this. You must love it, you must feel it, and you must want it. Write for your audience but also write for your soul.</p></blockquote><p id="358f">There’s that neurodivergent anarchist I didn’t even know I was hiding at the time. Okay. All right. I wasn’t a total martyr back then. That’s good.</p><h1 id="cd0c">What now?</h1><p id="2d7e">So, I’m just going to get this book done and I’m not going to do anymore after that. I have four books in the series but I think it’s time to let that part of me drift away with the breeze. I’m just going to put this one out there because I’ve already committed to it, but, it’s not really doing anything anyway. Of course, it’s not. It’s a book written while masking!</p><p id="10ae">I’m done with it.</p><p i

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d="8010">Phew — and I’m glad!</p><p id="bc5e">This is my jam now! Haha:</p><div id="3842" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/rainbow-circus"> <div> <div> <h2>Rainbow Circus</h2> <div><h3>LGBTQIA+ MM Romance Series. Rainbow Circus is just as it sounds, but there is more to it than lions and clowns. You’ll…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*u4sRa_xhJ1cmOBDo-tWwWA.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="e838"><i>Don’t miss out on any of my articles or any of the other great articles on Medium. For only $5/month you can have unlimited access to everything! Please note that below is an affiliate link and if you use it, you help feed an author. I promise they only bite when they are really hungry!</i></p><div id="6a51" class="link-block"> <a href="https://kp-the-writer.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - KP_the_writer</h2> <div><h3>As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…</h3></div> <div><p>kp-the-writer.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*pX1A89795AnA20CB)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="d1d2" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/about-me-kp-the-writer-f56a5e65ea7e"> <div> <div> <h2>About Me — KP-the-Writer</h2> <div><h3>Podcaster, writer, and queer, oh my</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*7yTzy4Uqux13evoV0WoMpw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

NEURODIVERGENCE

How I was Writing for Neurotypicals

No wonder my ‘business’ failed

Photo by Mulyadi on Unsplash

How did I not know?

Do you ever have realizations that make you just, shake your head and think, “Well, of course! How did I not see that?” I just had one of those moments.

I was a neurodivergent writer, writing for and training neurotypicals… That was never going to work!

No wonder I couldn’t keep going with the online program that I was running teaching others how to write a book. No wonder I was getting so frustrated with some of my clients who seemed unable or unwilling to let go of their attachment to controlling the outcome rather than flowing with intuition. No wonder I found some of the books they wrote so extremely boring that I felt like I’d failed them, and no wonder it was those books that were most successful.

I get it now — my clients were primarily neurotypicals. Even though I’m neurodivergent (which I didn’t have the language to recognize in myself at the time), I was being mentored by a neurotypical and writing for and therefore, marketing to, neurotypicals. Of course, the few clients I had were primarily neurotypical.

How did I realize?

So, I was preparing the next chapter of 10 Minute Author for publication. I’ve been updating the book, removing links to my old program and business, and releasing one chapter at a time on Illumination Chapters.

And then I had that moment.

That one where you read your own writing and want to punch yourself in the face.

No? Just me?

I was re-editing the part about Audience and Ideal Reader, and I was cringing. I said to myself, it’s okay, I’m not writing this for me. I’m writing this for the me that I was 10 years ago when I needed this information. It’s all so… neurotypical. It reads (to me now), like a neurodivergent trying to write for neurotypicals (which is exactly what it was).

The line that had me cringing

Then I read the line that made me physically ill and I didn’t know if I could leave it in there.

Know your market, and then write the book they want you to write.

That feels so wrong now. It feels so, gross.

So I adjusted the wording slightly into something that didn’t make me gag.

Know your market and then write the book they need to read.

A little better, but still icky. Luckily, instead of getting stuck on it, I read the next lines and I must say, I sighed in relief.

There is a caveat to this. You must love it, you must feel it, and you must want it. Write for your audience but also write for your soul.

There’s that neurodivergent anarchist I didn’t even know I was hiding at the time. Okay. All right. I wasn’t a total martyr back then. That’s good.

What now?

So, I’m just going to get this book done and I’m not going to do anymore after that. I have four books in the series but I think it’s time to let that part of me drift away with the breeze. I’m just going to put this one out there because I’ve already committed to it, but, it’s not really doing anything anyway. Of course, it’s not. It’s a book written while masking!

I’m done with it.

Phew — and I’m glad!

This is my jam now! Haha:

Don’t miss out on any of my articles or any of the other great articles on Medium. For only $5/month you can have unlimited access to everything! Please note that below is an affiliate link and if you use it, you help feed an author. I promise they only bite when they are really hungry!

Neurodiversity
Writing
Writer
LGBTQ
Mental Health
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