Audience in the Cross-Hairs

Are you focused on the audience when you write or simply throwing words on the page? It’s one of the basic questions for all writers—and something your editor will be considering when evaluating your writing. Each publication is different and the readers or the audience has to be firmly in the cross-hairs of your writing. If not, then you will miss the target.

I was thinking about that audience when I wrote a new article for Right-Writing.com. I posted it yesterday on the home page. For about a month, I’ve been constructing this series of short articles about the writing life. I’m glad a number of people are beginning to read it on a regular basis. I’ve been wondering how to expand this audience. I’ve determined a number of people who blog have fallen into this world—and are often talking with themselves. I’m not eager to fall into this type of discussion since a few months ago, I had never heard the word blog.  My article is titled, “What’s a Blog and Why Do I Care?”  I believe many people who write haven’t tuned into this genre of writing and I attempted to introduce the topic yet with a twist.

Each of us are pressed for time to read other people’s writings. How do you know if someone has added a new article to their particular site or weB log? One of the most useful tools for this particular need is MyYahoo.  I detail in this article how to use My Yahoo to quickly notice if something new is available for reading. It saves time from going by the actual blog and seeing the update. My Yahoo added this free service to their site in the last few months and I’ve found it invaluable.

Not looking for the audience first or not looking for a market is one of the top ten mistakes for magazine writers according to much published author, Kelly James-Enger.  No matter what type of writing you are doing today—make sure you have the audience as your ultimate target.