On Writing<\/i><\/a>\u2014in 2000. It\u2019s 291 pages of you-must-read<\/i>, and on page 216 of that book King writes:<\/p>\n\u201cSomeone\u2014I can\u2019t remember who, for the life of me\u2014once wrote that all novels are really letters aimed at one person. As it happens, I believe this. I think that every novelist has a single ideal reader; that at various points during the composition of a story, the writer is thinking, \u2018I wonder what he\/she will think when he\/she reads this part?\u2019 For me that first reader is my wife, Tabitha.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nThis idea that what you\u2019re writing as an audience of one is kind of tricky for some authors, because we tend to think in masses. We want a wide audience, we want a huge following, we want a deluge of readers\u2014so one reader just doesn\u2019t cut it.<\/p>\n
And of course, that\u2019s true. If we\u2019re publishing and just the one reader latches onto us, we\u2019re not exactly going to be buying custom-built catamarans and sailing around the world while we take in the sun and pen the occasional bestseller (you know who you are, pal). We need an audience. A big one.<\/p>\n
Focusing on your Ideal Reader<\/h3>\n
The point of our ideal reader, however, is to give us a target. It\u2019s a tool for defining our target audience type<\/i>, so that we are creating work that resonates with the people most likely to buy it. Think of it as improving your odds for success.<\/p>\n
Writing with an ideal reader in mind means using language and imagery and style and timbre that would appeal to that specific reader, and thus would largely appeal to readers like<\/i> that reader. You can\u2019t please everyone, it\u2019s true. But you could please everyone who might be pretty close to the<\/i> one. That\u2019s a lot easier.<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t happen to have an ideal reader sharing space in your home, you can still get the benefits by defining<\/i> your ideal reader.<\/p>\nProfiling for the Non-Stalker<\/h3>\n
In the marketing and advertising world, professionals often create \u2018customer profiles.\u2019 You might also see these called \u2018user profiles,\u2019 or \u2018target consumer profiles,\u2019 or a dozen other names. They\u2019re generally a one-sheet look at the ideal customer for a client or business\u2014complete with demographic information, descriptions of their likes and dislikes, maybe even what they had for breakfast on a given day.<\/p>\n
For some authors (especially fiction authors), this might sound pretty familiar. It\u2019s the same sort of work that often goes into creating a character for a story. You\u2019re weaving together details that may or may not be used in your narrative, but help you understand<\/i> the character.<\/p>\n
This works for both fiction and non-fiction authors, by the way. As a non-fiction author, you might think of your ideal reader as an ideal customer (if your book is geared toward promoting you and your services) or an ideal student (if your goal is to teach a concept or influence how people think about a topic). Your ideal reader is the person who will benefit most from the solution you\u2019re providing.<\/p>\n
Building a reader profile can be as simple or as complex as you need or want it to be, but the best approach is to start with the basics and build from there. Jot down the age, sex, martial status, level of education, occupation, and any other information you feel is vital. You might start by writing a sentence like the following:<\/p>\n
My ideal reader is a 28-year-old married mother of two who works full-time as a project manager, and likes to read cozy mysteries in her off-hours.<\/b><\/p>\n
You can see that even though there aren\u2019t a ton of specific details about this reader, we already have an idea of who she is. We can already picture<\/i> her, sitting in a big, comfy chair in the evening, after the kids have been put to bed. She has a cup of hot tea and one of those cozy mysteries (hopefully yours!), and she\u2019s unwinding before going to bed.<\/p>\n
That, alone, might help focus what you\u2019re writing, but it can help even more to take this game further, and add more details. For example:<\/p>\n
My ideal reader is Charlotte, a 28-year-old married mother of two who works full-time as a project manager for a furniture installation company. She and her husband have an arrangement\u2014she makes dinner when she gets home, makes sure the whole family is fed and homework is done, and he makes sure the kids get their baths and are tucked into bed on time. While he\u2019s taking care of his part of the bargain, Charlotte snuggles up in her favorite reading chair with a cup of chamomile and the latest cozy mystery.<\/b><\/p>\n
See how adding a bit of backstory gives us a lot more to work with? If we\u2019re the author of that cozy mystery that Charlotte is reading, we\u2019re going to make a lot of decisions based on this vision we have of her. When we come to a fork in the road, and can\u2019t decide if we want to have the protagonist burst into a room, guns blazing, or instead have her talk her way out of a tough predicament, thoughts of Charlotte will help guide us.<\/p>\n
Building Your Biggest Fan<\/h3>\n
To help flesh out your ideal reader, you may want to build a profile that contains any or all of the following:<\/p>\n