Ashley Farias
Professor Schmertz
English 3305
16 September 2021
Audience Driven
What makes a good writer, a good piece, an educated delivery? A writer’s strategy relies on the audience they are writing for. Education level and interest play a big part in how the writer is going to deliver their writing to their respective audience. That is the first step in the right direction in writing, I believe. Whether it be academic writers, screen writers, authors, freelance writers, etc, all writers figure out their audience in order to execute their goal. Once you know who your target audience is, it is up to the writer to figure out and research the respective audiences’ education level and their interest in order to truly reach them.
Finding your audience, then figuring out their interest and educational level is crucial in captivating the audience and truly pulling them into the writing. Is your audience interested in being persuaded, acknowledged, hearing a fun story, learning something new, learning even more on a certain subject, etc. Not to mention is your audience interested in cars, candy, politics, astronomy, gaming, and such. Does your audience want to read a whole novel or just a few pages? Some audiences are not interested in lots of information, lots of reading, or evidence. Sad to say but, some audiences although they are at the level to understand and read extensive and informational work, they are just not interested in it. They can prefer smaller works of writing with little to no evidence, while some prefer larger pieces of writing with lots of evidence. What is your audience interested in? Common ground can be a big help if interest is a bit tough to accomplish in certain writing like in a persuasive essay. Moreover the writer needs to take into account the educational level of their audience, for the most part. Some audiences can include multiple educational levels but who makes up most of it? Educational levels include age, grade, literacy rate, understanding, and so forth.
For instance an author is writing a children’s book, the audience of course is the children. More in depth what particular group of children. Whether it be for boys, girls, both, or some of each? That is where interest can come into play. The author is writing a children’s book about dinosaurs, thus the audience will be children interested in dinosaurs or even children wanting to learn more about dinosaurs. In addition to their interest the writer needs to focus on the educational level of their respective audience they are wanting to write for. Will the childrens book be more for the child to read or interact with themselves, or is the children’s book more intended for parents to read to their child. A children’s book is unique because parents or guardians need to be interested in purchasing or letting their children read the book. That is something to keep in mind as well when writing, will there be an outside source as well that have a say in the matter. For this instance the audience will be more geared towards children reading it on their own. Thus the writer will choose what age group to write for, which will be 5-9. Their educational level is a bit low, so the writer will take into consideration their literacy rate and understanding. Altogether interest and educational level will give the writer an upperhand in creating a piece that their audience will truly enjoy or comprehend.
To put in another way a screenwriter for a comedy show is writing for its audience which is people that like comedy for the most part. The audience is known so the next step is to figure out or investigate what their educational level is, for a show target audience age. Comedic writing depends on the age range, thus jokes, puns, sketches, etc, are written specifically for them to understand the “joke”. The audience’s educational level translates to their age in this instance. A certain age or age range is chosen for the writer to focus more on specifically. As well as how extensive the writing is going to be, grammar that will be used, the plot, the reading level, etc. With the audience and educational level now known, interest is up next. The audience interest correlates with their age, therefore the screen writer is given or they themselves investigate and research the interest of this audience to make their “jokes” land and be relatable or known. In a nutshell the audience is controlling what the writer is creating in order for the reader to appreciate and engage with the writing, interest and educational level correlate in great writing for their audience. That is not to say only screen writers need to follow these points in order to captivate an audience, all writers have the same goal which is to captivate and engage their respective audience. To further clarify “Knowing your audience helps you to make decisions about what information you should include, how you should arrange that information, and what kind of supporting details will be necessary for the reader to understand what you are presenting” (Writing for an Audience).
In reading “Writing in College” the article was more comforting in letting the target audience, the students know that they are not expected to be superb writers right away. The audience is at ease knowing that they are supposed to improve and not already be experts in writing. William and McEnerney reassure students that one does not already have everything planned out in their writing but that writing is a work of progress. In other words, William and McEnerney believe “the most productive work on a paper begins after you have gotten your ideas out of the warm and cozy incubator of your own mind and into the cold light of day” (pg. 2). With that in mind William and McEnerney do a superb job in captivating their audience. For one their interest which in this case would be reassurance in their college writing, is touched upon. Two their writing correlates with their education level, and how college students do not usually look at too many citations and supporting evidence. Many students do not realize that self-improvement is still possible. Writing is a work of progress, as is the writer. Therefore with the help of knowing what to do and what not to do, ” write to discover and to refine it” (William and McEnerney, pg. 4). To further explain William and McEnerney go on and comfort the audience in their writing, reassuring them, and making the audience think about their own writing and how it is okay to be top notch writers, right away. The Audience is interested in knowing that they are in the same boat as most college students.
When reading both of the articles I noticed a big difference in supporting evidence and data usage in captivating their respective audience. In “Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse” Thonney uses more supporting evidence and multiple articles in supporting her thesis. “Many students think the main claim in an academic argument must be an assertive, polemic statement. But corpus-based analyses reveal that most academic writers state their main claim matter-of-factly”(pg. 351). Thonny knows that his audience is more stirred towards academic writers and professors thus, using more evidence to fully back the writing that is being read. The audience in “Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse”, are interested in evidence to fully engage in the reading and turlly trust what they are reading and trust the author as well. Thonny emphasizes that students lack the right information and guidance in writing. With the right help of professors, students can be steered in the right direction in writing like academic writers in their desired field, not just pleasing the professor.
All things considered the audience is ultimately in the power position to guide the writer in the right direction. The writer must take into consideration their respective audience interest and educational level to start off their writing in an effortless way. Knowing the audience well will enable the writer to then figure out what information to include, what kind of support they will need for the level of the audience, and what they are looking for in that specific reading or show in some cases like stated before.
Works Cited
“Writing for an Audience.” Accredited Online College Degrees | UMGC, www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/getting-started-writing/writing-for-an-audience.cfm.
Williams, Joseph M., and Lawrence McEnerney. “Writing in College.” Some crucial differences between high school and college writing
Thonney, Teresa. “Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse.” New Voice, May 2011, p. 359.
