Audience

When coming up with a subject for this week’s blog post, the only thing that came to mind was the short story I was working on. Which in turn made me think of how I had created this story, and that in turn made me think of audience, and how it relates to writing. I’ve never paid much heed to it, but this particular story was shaped by its audience, and so was a lesson in how maybe there was more to it than I ever gave credence to.

I’m writing a few short stories right now, plus co-authoring a novella, as well as finishing up my NaNoWriMo novel (in spite of reaching 50,000 words this sucker is nowhere near complete). Audience would get a little confused if it wasn’t basically the same for all of them. Mostly.

Audience affects the story. It informs the age of the protagonist (usually best to aim for someone who’s fairly close to the intended audience). It informs the kinds of topics addressed (especially for books skewed for younger audiences, there are some topics that are inappropriate or simply more relevant to that age).

The audience is still you, but knowing the intended audience can help shape it into something better. Knowing the tropes and conventions helps steer to elements I know will be enjoyed, and it also means that I’ll know what cliches and expectations I can subvert. Knowing the other books in your genre, getting to know your audience, it all contributes to knowing what kind of book they would want to read.

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Sorry. I planned to make this longer, but I’m battling a nasty cold and this is all I’ve got. (It might also sound a little like a barely fleshed-out partial outline because of that.) But knowing your audience is a good thing!