Writing for a Specific Audience

[Philip Overby]

This is a question I often ask myself when I'm writing. "Who is going to read this?"

Now this question comes into my mind as more of an editor than a writer. When I briefly fielded submissions for a small press, that was a question I had to ask myself when reading manuscripts. What audience is the author trying to reach?

Seems like I read that Joe Abercrombie writes with a member of his family in mind. Will she like it? What will she think of certain elements?

I think that's an interesting way to think about writing. If you don't have an audience, then you are really just writing for a hobby then. Which is perfectly fine.

I think it's always good to write for yourself as well. To think, "Would I pay to read this?" If the answer is "No" then who are you writing for? An invisible audience? Young adults? Generic Fantasy Reader A?

So I'm posing the question: Do you have a specific audience in mind when you are writing? If yes, who are you writing for? If no, then...um, I don't know?

I ask this question because I've been writing manga recently (and no, I'm not a life-long manga fan, but have grown more interested in it since moving to Japan) and I've been thinking tons about what audience my stories are being aimed at. So it's something I think about constantly.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

The idea of who would want to read it occasionally flits by the edge of consciousness, but I always write things that I would enjoy reading. I do this because I don't enjoy writing things that I wouldn't enjoy reading, and I already have a job writing something I would never use (code for a website).

 

[Dark Huntress]

I am a fan of manga! Good luck on your writing!

As for your question, I write what I enjoy reading. I write for me. I think that should be the number one rule for writers. If you don't have an interest in what you write, why would anyone else?

I could never write a romance book, I don't read them. The book would turn out stiff with no passion (pun not intended). It's better to write for yourself at least that way if no one buys it, you still have something you can enjoy.

 

[Butterfly]

We all buy books, and we all read them, so I think that if we are writing for ourselves, then that sort of means each one of us is an audience even if only unto ourselves. So, theoretically, the books we read also appeal to others and in turn the books we write for ourselves should also appeal to those others - hopefully. At least that's the way I see it.

 

[TWErvin2]

I write the books that, if I hadn't written them, I would like to find on the shelf and read myself.

I do have a generic audience in the back of my mind when I write. And I understand the expressed concern about editors being important if you're going to submit your work to them. Publisher will want something they think will appeal to an audicence, and the broader the audience, the better the potential sales (and profit for both the publisher and the author). But I'm more along the lines of writing the best story I can and then seeing what happens. It's more of a gut sense that what I'm writing will appeal to readers.

My publisher indicated that there are a lot of good stories out there, he gets a lot of good submissions (well-written stories), but he wanted something that was a bit different, that would make it stand out. That's why he took a chance on Flank Hawk. So far it's worked out (Gryphonwood recently published the second novel in the series). And the point here being, avoid writing something that will 'appeal to everyone' because then it may not, in the end, appeal to anyone, including targeted editors.

 

[Devor]

I write a little bit hoping my wife will like it. I think a muse is important.

 

[Anders Ämting]

To parrot what other have already said: Usually I write stuff I'd like to read myself. After all, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

If I have to name an actual demographic, I suppose I tend to aim for the same sort of people I typically hang out with online. Nerds, basically.

 

[Sparkie]

I write a little bit hoping my wife will like it. I think a muse is important.

If I remember correctly, I think Stephen King said the same thing in On Writing. His wife reads every first draft he writes, and they argue about the story afterward.

He went on to write that many writers have a 'first reader' in mind when they write. Who is the first person you wish to show your work to?

In my case, it's my nine-year-old nephew. (Weird, I know, but the kid has great story sense!)

 

[San Cidolfus]

I write because I am compelled to do so. I haven't often asked myself who would like to read these books of mine, although my brother has always enjoyed them and I consider him my first fan. Since my first e-book went live, for the first time I've gotten feedback from people I hadn't even met that had read my work. Strange times for a hermit. I'm not writing for fans, either, present or future. I can't say that I'm writing for myself, even though I almost always like what I've written if I can close my critical eye for a moment.

It may sound bizarre or pretentious, but I think I write for the characters. These intriguing little phantoms in my head have voices that don't always resonate with my own, and they wail and pick and itch until I give them what they want: room to cause havoc. I let my characters run and the world follows after them. My logic's job is to wrangle some plot structure and direction around the whole fiasco--rather like corralling cats--and the end result is a narrative.

So saying I write for the voices in my head makes me sound like a schizophrenic. But I'm fine with that.

 

[JBryden88]

I do write something I would want to read.

But I also write hoping to connect several audiences together -> fans of pulp stories with characters like Conan the Cimmerian, who might be into the idea of barbarism vs. civilization, but also fans of medieval intrigue like the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Not trying to steal audience so much as say "hey, if you like this, you'll hopefully like this as well!"