Write Wild: What Audience Are You Writing For?

Friday, September 18, 2020

What Audience Are You Writing For?

One Saturday morning, I went for a run and ended up with a very unique audience that day. No, I wasn’t running in a race with hundreds of spectators dressed in costume.

After I hit the 2-mile mark, I turned around to head back home for a total of 4 miles that day. When I hit the 3-mile mark, there were about 16 wild eyes staring at me. There were eight black-bellied barbados sheep watching me run up the hill beside their fenced-in area. It was a little odd and slightly humorous. Too bad I didn’t have my camera that day.

It made me think about audiences for writers, though. As writers, it’s very important to who you’re writing for. You wouldn’t write about adultery for a 5-year-old. But what about cheating? Would you write about that for an 8-year-old reader?

Audience is the age group of your readership. Children’s books are 0-17. Adult books are 18+. Children’s books are divided into four main categories. These are guidelines, though there are always exceptions.

You could also include Board Books (BB) for babies age 0-2; and Early Readers (ER) for children age 5-8. Notice how the ages overlap. That’s because children don’t develop linguistically at the same rate. It takes time to develop a strong independent reader.

Use this Writer’s Audience Guide to help you decide not only who your audience is, but also the age of your characters and how many words you’ll need to write.