It’s tempting as a writer to think that “everyone” is your audience. But your message is not for everyone.
It’s a paradox that the more you focus on a specific type of person, the more people will be able to relate to it.
Narrowing down your audience will give you three things:
- Clarity. When you understand who you’re writing for, your writing life gets a lot easier and more fun. You know the problems you’re solving for them, and what things you can ignore. Your material should attract the right people and repel the wrong reader.
- Intensity. When you know and understand your audience, you don’t have to guess what to write about. Your clarity will give you an intensity of focus because you know what you’re trying to accomplish.
- Feedback. When you start to write for a specific audience, you will get feedback from people who will help you refine your audience’s needs and interests. For example, if you’re writing for educators, it doesn’t really help to get feedback from airplane mechanics (and vice-versa).
If you try to write for everyone, it’s like going down a wide river that has no momentum. When you write for a specific audience, it’s like going down rapids where the banks are close together. It will be more exciting, and you will go much faster.
Today’s Challenge: Write down the specific audience you’re writing for. What are they like? What do they need? What are some problems you could solve for them?