Who do you think you’re writing for, anyway?
Sometimes we get so caught up and focused on what it is that we want to write that we forget to ask ourselves ‘who is my audience?’ As simple as that question appears to be it is one of the most significant questions you can ask yourself. Who are you speaking to when you sit down to write your book, article, blog? Simple but significant.
Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience and what they expect from you will be imperative in setting the rhythm of your manuscript. Are you writing for children? Adults? Youth? Is your audience sophisticated and well that will understand technical terms and five-dollar words or do you need to keep it simple?
What Does Your Audience Want?
What is your reader looking for? If you are writing a mystery or a suspense novel will your audience want blood and guts, or will they simply want to be intrigued and interested enough that they will not want to put the book down?
Your Audiences' Age Group
What is the age of your audience? Are you writing for children? If so, have you looked at children’s books in the same age market that you want yours in to see what it is that makes the book sell? Is it the illustrations? Is it the use of rhymes? Is it a quick, clipped style of writing or is it a lazy, laid-back type of story? Will a three-year-old be interested in the same book a first grader is interested? Is it a book that an adult will enjoy reading to a child?
Gender
Have you considered gender for your book? I know, this is the time in society when
‘gender doesn’t matter’, but when it comes to reading it does matter. A story for a little girl will be written quite differently than one for a little boy and that isn’t stereo typing. Or maybe it is. But you do need to respectfully consider the audience and how they will receive the story you are telling.