A is for Audience by Susan Barclay

Whenever we write, the first question we must ask ourselves is “for whom are we writing?”

 The answer to this question determines (gives direction to) several things. 

1. The length of the piece. If you are writing for a particular market/publisher, there will be a set word count. If you’re writing for children, the length will depend on what you are writing: is it a picture book, easy chapter book, novel, non-fiction? Each of these has established word count or page length maximums. If you’re writing for adults, you can typically go on much longer. Here’s an excellent article on ascertaining the appropriate word count for your piece. 

2. The tone. Are you writing to children, teens, adults, professionals, academics, laypeople? Whomever your target, your tone will be different. You don’t talk the same way to children as you do to academics, so you’ll write differently too. With a general audience, regardless of age, you’ll more likely use a casual tone, unless perhaps you’re writing literary fiction. Professionals and academics will require a more formal approach and they’ll expect you to know, and use, their jargon. In addition, the issue of your work’s intent or purpose will affect your tone. The Grammarly website identifies 10 types of tones and there are undoubtedly others, depending on what you hope to accomplish. 

3. The vocabulary or word choice. This ties in with tone. With a general audience, you typically want to use more simple language (also called plain or clear) so what you’re trying to communicate is easily understood by all. You can’t possibly know the educational or experiential backgrounds of every reader, so using this type of language casts a wider net. With professionals and academics, you’re expected to use a more elevated vocabulary, one that shows you’re a peer, you travel in the same circles, you “get” their field of knowledge.

4. The market. Just as you wouldn’t submit “This Little Piggy Went to Market” to the Journal of American Medicine, you wouldn’t submit “The Effects of Childhood Trauma on Marital Success” to Annick Press. Your intended audience dictates which publishers or agents will be most interested in acquiring and/or releasing your work. The Writer’s Market used to be a dependable resource for authors in search of potential publishers, but 2021 appears to have been its last edition. It will take more hunting today. The Canadian Authors Association has a handy-dandy list of Canadian book publishers on its website. Do you know of any other reliable resources?

Of course, if you’re writing for your own or God’s eyes only, all of the above is moot. Go freestyle, my friends!

Can you add any other points that are determined by our reading audience? Please add them in the comments!

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For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit her blog: https://susan-barclay.blogspot.com/

  

It's All About the Follow-Through by Steph Beth Nickel

Follow-through is important even for those of us who aren't golfers.

Distractions are part of everyday life. But if we want to achieve our writing goals, we must first make a plan and then follow through with that plan.

Of course, there are times when life happens and we must revise our plan. That doesn't mean, however, that we should set aside our goals and dreams indefinitely.

At this stage of my life, I have to seriously consider all the things I'd like to accomplish and prayerfully determine which I'm going to focus on. I can set lofty goals of pursuing a plethora of my eclectic interests, but I know full well I'll only be able to follow through on a relatively small number of them.

I need a plan. And so do you.

What steps can you take to increase the likelihood that you will achieve your goals?

• Determine what your ultimate goals are and then break them down into tasks you can achieve in relatively short increments of time.
• Schedule writing sessions in your planner and treat these sessions like you would any other appointment. (You can make amazing progress in even 15-30 minutes three to five times a week.)
• Set a word count or time goal. When you achieve the goal, you can call it a win. If your situation allows and you're on a roll, you can keep going. (Word of Warning: Resist the temptation to write for countless hours for a day or two if it will leave you drained, reluctant to get back to writing for day, weeks, or longer.)
• Identify what keeps you from achieving your writing goals and determine how you can minimize distractions. (I'm thinking more of social media and those seemingly urgent household chores, not playing with your children, going for a walk with your spouse, or meeting a friend for coffee.)
• Speaking of social media... Some people install programs on their computer that won't allow them to surf the Web for specified periods of time. Others have a different computer for writing on, one they don't use to access the Internet. 
• Do you need music playing in the background? Go for it.
• Silence? Hang a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and shut yourself away in your room for half an hour ... after you've explained to your family how important your writing time is to you.
• Give yourself permission to write a messy first draft. If you take the time to edit as you go, it will be hard to get to the point where the words are flowing.

So, set your goals. Formulate a doable plan. And remember the importance of follow-through.