--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think it's a very bad idea for someone…" description: "\"I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing for a readership.\" — Joshua Ferris" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png" --- # I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing… ![“I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing for a readership.” quote by Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png) > “I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing for a readership.” [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He warns that writing for a specific audience can be detrimental, suggesting it limits creative freedom. **In simple terms:** Writing for a readership can be a bad idea. Key Takeaway Write for authenticity, not just an audience. Themes creativity audience risk Mood cautious analytical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - authorial voice - market pressures - creative writing - publishing decisions Key Concepts literary theory authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance authenticity with audience engagement? - What risks arise from ignoring readership? A Different Perspective May ignore reader needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-idea/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [A readership crisis is really a leadership crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hyatt/a-readership-crisis-is-really-a-leadership-crisis/) [Michael Hyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hyatt/) > [By the time I was seventeen, I was on my way to Hollywood and didn't look back. My family is supportive now, but like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-heard/by-the-time-i-was-seventeen-i-was-on-my-way-to-hollywood-and-didn-t/) [Amber Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-heard/) > [More than any other personality trait, my mother seemed to be ruled by anger and sadness. She seemed to hate being a mother. Watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merrill-markoe/more-than-any-other-personality-trait-my-mother-seemed-to-be-ruled-by/) [Merrill Markoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merrill-markoe/) > [It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-s-not-a-bad-idea-to-call-this-cthulhuism-yog-sothothery-of-mine/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Government likes committees... a lot. Committees kill all the really good ideas and generally all the really bad ideas. 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Once you develop your readership on your blog, and you can put something out there or direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-williams/i-had-a-blog-for-many-years-once-you-develop-your-readership-on-your/) [Evan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-williams/) > [It's about being right and trying to get the facts and get the story right, and inform, you know, the readership or the viewership.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-spicer/it-s-about-being-right-and-trying-to-get-the-facts-and-get-the-story/) [Sean Spicer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-spicer/) > [In the 1950s we use to feel that television was taking away our comic readership; with today's exciting, powerfully visual movies I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-simon/in-the-1950s-we-use-to-feel-that-television-was-taking-away-our-comic/) [Joe Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-simon/) ## More by Joshua Ferris > [“Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations--and how to assuage them all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/using-a-wide-variety-of-media-we-could-demonstrate-for-our-fellow/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [If someone were plucked from the group and given those responsibilities, they might find themselves growing more aloof, just by virtue of that promotion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/if-someone-were-plucked-from-the-group-and-given-those/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“I was already at one remove before the Internet came along. 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It's the only way I know of not being constantly reminded of all the ways I'm alienated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/of-course-i-alienate-myself-from-society-it-s-the-only-way-i-know-of/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“That was the last time she was allowed back at the Bennigan's. From then on, she started drinking at the T.G.I. Friday's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-was-the-last-time-she-was-allowed-back-at-the-bennigan-s-from/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [I've always thought things were absurd. 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They might do crappy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-one-of-the-ways-you-avoid-being-angry-is-to-avoid-being-angry/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“Without monstrous distortions, I was slowly learning, without lies and hypocrisy, one cannot have the idealized American life I so longed for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/without-monstrous-distortions-i-was-slowly-learning-without-lies-and/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) [Explore all 114 Joshua Ferris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) ## More Bad idea quotes > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. 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They produce middle-ground mush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-devos/government-likes-committees-a-lot-committees-kill-all-the-really-good/) [Betsy DeVos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-devos/) > [It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-s-not-a-bad-idea-to-call-this-cthulhuism-yog-sothothery-of-mine/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [More than any other personality trait, my mother seemed to be ruled by anger and sadness. She seemed to hate being a mother. Watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merrill-markoe/more-than-any-other-personality-trait-my-mother-seemed-to-be-ruled-by/) [Merrill Markoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merrill-markoe/) > [“Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to inflict my rantings on you, even though we are destined to spend the rest of our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/sorry-he-apologized-i-didn-t-mean-to-inflict-my-rantings-on-you-even/) [connie willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“Jesus. Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, Phoenix, L.A., and Seattle, plus two small towns she'd never heard of in the Gulf Coast region. The unit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-hooper/jesus-chicago-kansas-city-denver-phoenix-l-a-and-seattle-plus-two/) [Kay Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-hooper/) > [“Civilization is an experiment, a very recent way of life in the human career, and it has a habit of walking into what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-wright/civilization-is-an-experiment-a-very-recent-way-of-life-in-the-human/) [Ronald Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-wright/) > [Idea-Advocacy Matrix highlights a couple of things: that good ideas need to be "sold" if they are ever going to see the light of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-daly/idea-advocacy-matrix-highlights-a-couple-of-things-that-good-ideas/) [John Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-daly/) > [“It is not a bad idea to get into the habbit of writing one's thoughts. It saves one having to bother anyone else with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-colegate/it-is-not-a-bad-idea-to-get-into-the-habbit-of-writing-one-s-thoughts/) Isabel Colegate > [“Medical research has revealed that in about one-tenth of the population, the liver processes alcohol differently, releasing a chemical messenger that creates the craving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaylie-jones/medical-research-has-revealed-that-in-about-one-tenth-of-the/) [Kaylie Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaylie-jones/) > [“Sometimes I have good ideas, sometimes I have bad ideas and sometimes I have colossally bad ideas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-cellier/sometimes-i-have-good-ideas-sometimes-i-have-bad-ideas-and-sometimes/) Melanie Cellier > [I have done conferences explaining that cloud is a bad idea. 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As with excise duties, the effects are regressive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-farage/minimum-sales-prices-for-alcohol-are-a-startlingly-bad-idea-as-with/) [Nigel Farage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-farage/) [Browse all 550 Bad idea quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-idea/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing for a readership.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joshua Ferris" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone-to-start-writing-for-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bad idea" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone-to-start-writing-for-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/joshua-ferris-4070_bad-idea_i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone_1986781.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing for a readership.” — Joshua Ferris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joshua Ferris", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think it's a very bad...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone-to-start-writing-for-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-it-s-a-very-bad-idea-for-someone-to-start-writing-for-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```