The Key to Powerful Writing: Don’t Write for an Audience, Write for a Reader

Know who you’re writing for

Here’s the deal, we all know we aren’t writing for just ourselves here. Not if we want our writing to be more than a journal entry (which is a valid form of writing, trust me, I’ve written about journals numerous times). And we know we ought to write for an audience, and maybe even should know a thing or two about them.

So, just what the heck am I proposing here? Don’t write for an audience? What’s that even mean? Keep reading and let’s work it out together.

Know who you’re writing for

Back up a minute and let me explain. It isn’t about a faceless crowd, it’s about writing for one specific person you can fully imagine the responses of. You want them to be completely ingrained in your imagination when you’re writing, imagine where they’ll respond and how.

Something gets lost when we write for a bland crowd of faceless people we can’t imagine or don’t really know. Sure, we’ve made their personas and done all the work that goes with that. No judgment either, it’s good stuff to do, and a practice I believe in.

What I don’t get behind is doing it just because every other writer is. The question then isn’t how do we more of what’s expected even if it doesn’t work for us, but instead, how do we do something that works better?

We do that by imagining one person (maybe two or three) that we can take a reasonable guess at how they’ll react. We write for them. Stephen King calls this person his “Ideal reader” and it’s his wife that he writes for. What I’m proposing is to do similar but being flexible, you might have a different reader for different topics.

Let’s explore this a bit closer.

Know what they want and need

Going deeper, when we do this, writing for this one person instead of the faceless crowd, you have an easier time knowing what they need and want. You have a solid appreciation for the things they already enjoy, dive into, study and read endlessly about.

That’s good, that’s your secret weapon right there. Use it to your fullest advantage and offer them more of this.

But don’t just stop there, take it further.

Know what they don’t want and don’t need

Because you have this person so fully imagined, and you have a few good ideas for what they like and what they might want more of, you are better prepared to flip the script and take a guess at what they’re tired of seeing. What have they seen out there already, one too many times, and might cringe at seeing another story or article about?

What things they already have also helped you understand what they don’t need. Every solution they’re already using, working, customizing, don’t give them more of that. Give them that with a twist, or give them something fresh. But use this knowledge to your advantage and let it keep you aware of what you’re offering and what they want and don’t want.

Keep reading, there’s more.

Have a chat with them

That’s right, don’t just hammer out words on a bright white screen. Offer something more personal. Imagine you’re sitting down with them, have a cup of coffee, crack open a beer, take shots of some good Kentucky bourbon, and just chat for a while.

This might feel funny at first, having this imaginary conversation, and you only have to take it as far as you need to. If you find pay-dirt, dig where you’re at. But doing this, imagining this situation, it’ll make your writing feel less rigid and more conversational and that is magic. That’s your sweet spot. Work to find it, work to keep it, work to develop it.

Turning it into poetry

Bonus point, if you’re a poet like me, then maybe you want something more specific. How exactly do you turn all of this into poetry?

Understanding one reader is easier than understanding a large crowd. Writing poetry for one person is easier too. And to reach that larger crowd with your poetry, just imagine one person, it’ll translate.

Each of these topics that interest your reader can easily be used as inspiration for your next poem, but it can also help with writing the supporting pieces for your poetry. This is solid stuff to work with.

All of these things you learn about your one reader can become the muse you’re looking for. It can inspire you, motivate you, and help you laser in your focus. None of this is to suggest that you should sacrifice your poetry because one person might not like something, just find a different reader to focus on for this piece.

Takeaway

It’s no lie, writing isn’t always the easiest thing for any of us. It can feel like all we do is show up, scribble, and listen to the sound of silence when we put all this hard work out there. I get it.

But writing with someone in mind, imagining them reading your work, responding to it, engaging with it, it adds that much-needed level of power, of potential and of connection that your writing is hungry for. And it just might prove to be the answer to a few more of those crickets. Shift how you think about writing, focus on having imaginary conversations with your audience, and figure out what they need, what they want, what they don’t need and what they don’t want and just sit down for a while and chat with them about it.

Then turn all that “chatting” into words on the page, edit the heck out of it, and take it to a level or two more before smashing that publish button. And then smash the hell right out of it. You got this.

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