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‘Who Am I Writing For?’
It’s the magic question every writer needs to ask themselves
All writing is storytelling. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing marketing copy or a hot take or a novel about cyborgs in love. You’re telling a story to someone. A living, breathing person. I’ve written for large and small audiences. But I always try to imagine a human being when I, John DeVore, sit down to scribble.
A story should flow naturally from storyteller to reader. It should be specific because “glass slipper” sounds better than “special shoe.” A story should feel like a hug, and if you think that’s corny, then let’s agree to agree that you’re wrong.
My best work happens when I write for a single person instead of a mass of people. Like any writer, I want to be popular. I want to be read by as many people as possible. But the only way to do that is to connect with one person. Before I write anything — whether it’s a social media post for a brand or a first-person essay or a movie review — I ask myself, “Who am I writing for?”
Who am I telling a story to?
It’s a question I encourage every writer to ask themselves, especially those in digital media where the pressure to drive traffic and to be everything to everyone is intense. There is no virality formula. If there were, then more stories…
