Define Your Reading Audience and Hone Your Writing Voice
Be flexible but be yourself to satisfy the right readers
We talk about defining our audience or our reader, but I interpret that differently than other writers might. A while ago, I coached writers at a large law firm on effective writing for their website magazine. When I encouraged them to define their audience, I saw a sea of puzzled faces in front of me.
And I sure got responses:
“Wait, how am I supposed to know who’s reading me and what they want? I’m not psychic.”
“A whole bunch of different kinds of people read different kinds of stuff — I can’t know who’s reading our website.”
“Who cares who’s out there? I write what I know. I write what I believe.”
“I just write for everybody and hope for the best.”
I couldn’t and didn’t argue their points; I mean, who am I to debate lawyers? But I did redefine “defining my audience.” It doesn’t mean I have to know specifically which people, or even which types of people, might read my stories. We’re not particularly concerned with demographics, though they might be part of the big picture.
When I define my audience, I am thinking more about the kind of reader I want to speak to. When I write, I’m doing what I do when I talk to someone. I communicate something that’s on my mind — something I care about and know about.
I know there isn’t an existing audience perpetually sitting out in the universe, eager to read my next pearls of wisdom. I quietly consider who might benefit from a given story, what they need, and why they might be reading. To find answers? To solve a problem? To escape their day and laugh? To object to and debate my ideas?
Envisioning my readers before I hit a single key
I always write with my own voice — or voices, really. Over decades, I’ve developed certain tells or mannerisms I use in my writing (and in my speech). These are things that characterize my personality and give me an authentic persona. They are noticed and get responses from readers.
Maybe I use an obscure or made-up word like squicky, as in “Generating a story via AI and calling it your own is a tad squicky.”
A good friend recently asked me to define squicky, and I said: Suppose someone offers to babysit your dog, and you later find out he owns a restaurant in Korea. That’s squicky. (It should be noted that this year, South Korea banned dog stew in restaurants, so I need a new way to describe squicky.)
My point is that I can change the timbre of my voice depending on what kind of people I have in mind when I write a story. I don’t exactly tailor my style for a reader or set of readers. I think about writing to respect the type of reader I have in mind when I begin.
I think about the tone I might use, the vocabulary, the depth of detail.
If I write a piece for grandparents, I know others will read it too, but my target group will have a different pop culture than young parents might. I keep that in mind. Older readers understand references to George Carlin or Mr. Magoo. Younger readers would have to look those guys up to get my drift.
Younger readers often have bigger time constraints, so I might write less detail and color — an overall shorter form of story. If I write a blog post, I know that kind of audience reads in a very different way than essay readers do.
If I’m addressing a subject popular with women, my tone can be intimately female — they’ll get my perspective. If I write for men, I’ll be respectful of whatever male perspective I can tap into.
Writing for kids takes a different tone than does writing for adults. Are you beginning to get my drift?
On the other hand, and there’s always another hand, I’ll fail if I try to be all things to all people. I’m not very concerned about my audience’s politics, religion, or temperament. If those ideas enter my story, they must reflect what I think without worrying whether readers will necessarily agree. Controversy is wonderful if it is well-managed.
How to target an audience
Overall, my choice of words, references, examples, and the overall feel of my writing have to be relatable to someone while being true to myself. And unless I think about who that someone is, I can’t make effective choices.
As a writer, I compose my work in a self-actualized manner. I want my audience to trust me and understand me. The readers should be able to hear my message, recognize that I am the right person to address them, and not worry about whether or not I’m faking it. It’s always a version of me on the page, because I make sure I know what I’m talking about and can share it with you appropriately and effectively.
I fact-check. I proofread. I use beta readers. It’s important to me that I resonate with the audience I have in mind — I want them to nod their heads the whole time they’re reading me. Therefore, I need to think about who I want to communicate to.
It’s hard to explain, but being aware of my target audience allows me to compose in a way that elicits a visceral response in a certain kind of reader. It’s all good if other readers enjoy the piece, but I optimize for a group of readers I feel like talking to because I have something of value they can take away.
Before you write your next story, look away from the keyboard and quietly consider what your message is and who is the perfectly right receiver.
If my voice resonates with you, hop over to Real Insight! and become inspired to be resilient.
Interesting read. I sometimes struggle b/c I have a somewhat snarky voice (used to be a comic) and I write deeply researched stuff about how religion has affected history and culture—in a bad way. So much advice re: Substack talks about meeting some kind of concrete need, such as increasing your readers or subcriptions, etc. I guess I meet a need for people who are leaving Christianity or who are interested in how it’s shaped the West and what we can do to recognize and perhaps change that thinking (ex. dualistic separation from Nature). But is that enough?
You have a specific purpose for your Substack: How to help writer's write. It's a drilled down niche that solves a problem.
What if I say I don't know who I'm writing to? I think I might try and experiment. I'll choose a reader I know and imagine I'm writing to this person directly. I don't know if this will work—but honestly I write because it's how I wish to express myself. I used to write letters to people. This takes the place of that while sharing ideas and experiences in the process.
Defining my reading audience is something I definitely need to work on.