Blogger: Mary Keeley
I often remind writers that whatever you write about, whether in fiction or nonfiction, it’s all about the reader. This will always be true. So then, this begs the obvious question.
How well do you know your target audience?
Every age demographic has its unique set of values based on family history, personal and religious experience, and culture. I saw an added dimension on how this affects readers from one generation to the next during a class taught by a respected Bible professor. The following age-group descriptions illustrate how perspectives and values change from generation to generation.
Baby boomers grew up during the turbulent 60s and 70s. Think flower children, rebellion against established authority, and the introduction of the drug culture. Generally speaking, however, when they entered adulthood and settled down to have families, they wanted to regain respectability and a
good image. That’s how outward appearance and behaving the right way became all-important to this generation. To the extreme that many came to embrace legalism. Legalism penetrated the church, too, as Christian boomers came back to their religious roots.
Millennials, on the other hand, have grown up watching their boomer parents value their appearance and achievement over attention to them or a perceived concern for the hurting world around them and are unimpressed. They are more interested in transparency and relationships, less on appearances . . . and the organized church.
These are generalizations, but the examples illustrate how various age groups and people groups from different settings can view things differently. Your target readers will have additional tensions formed by individual experience and the culture around them, but you get the idea. There is more than one layer of connection with them. The more you learn and understand how your they think and perceive, the better you will be able to create authentic characters, characters your readers will resonate with easily. Nonfiction writers will understand what your readers need from your book and how best to communicate it to them. Then you will be prepared to answer this question:
What’s in it for your readers?
I don’t need to tell you that the optimum time to learn all you can about your audience is before you ever put your fingers to the keys. You will be glad you spent the time to get to know them. Editors will want to hear why your target 
readers will resonate with what you have written. It’s one way for them to discern if your social media followers are real potential readers, so be prepared with a description of what’s in it for your readers in your pitch meetings or a list of reader benefits of your proposal.
If you can answer the following questions with ease, you can be fairly confident your writing will resonate with them.
Are your heroine’s motivations and tensions authentic for her age and culture of the time period? Will your readers relate to her main struggle?
What is it about your voice and your characters or approach to your topic that draws your following, that is, potential readers, to you?
How will your target readers be inspired by the growth your protagonist experiences as the story progresses?
Did I speak directly to what my readers struggle with on this topic (requires that you know something about what they struggle with)? Does my message give them hope and specific answers they need?
How well did you do? What more do you need to know to satisfy “what’s in it for your readers”? Do you know why they are drawn to you? What special something do you offer them? Your answer to that question identifies part of your brand identity.
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I write nonfiction, and I write mostly to people of my own generation. I sometimes imagine a teenager reading my message, and I hope I sound like a sweet grandmother offering sage advice.
*My mother and a friend sometimes meet with young people in the juvenile detention center, just to tell them “God loves you and has a plan for your life.” It isn’t unusual for a kid to respond, “That’s what my Grandma says.”
*I don’t want to criticize, I want to encourage. If one from a younger generation grants me a quick read, I want to leave a seed of hope.
*And for those kids who know me personally–my grands, kids from our church and the neighborhood–I know that my actions speak louder than the words I write.
Beautifully written, Shirlee. I can’t number how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I’m here today because my Grandmother prayed for me.” I myself have very fond memories of my Grandma because I often lived with her during the summer. She took me to church, taught me to sew and cook. I’ll cherish those memories forever.
Um…actually, Shirlee, I think of you as that pleasant and winsome young lady a few states down the digital lane, whose heart is so magnificently caught up in Christ.
“Young lady.” What a nice thing to say!
(young at heart, I hope)
Gems of wisdom and direction for all writers in what you said here, Shirlee. Thanks for your contribution to this discussion.
I think I did okay. I hope and pray I did okay in my works. I’m reading through and editing my second WIP now. So, you’ve definitely given me some questions to focus on. I’m not real sure why a reader would be drawn to me or what special I have to offer, but I’ve often had people tell me that I’m “real” … that’s definitely what I love in others. And maybe my experience writing in this field will help me. I’m going to be praying on this … it’s usually so easy to see what you love in others, but it’s much harder to think about what people might love in me.
Shelli, I’ve never met you and likely never will, but he’s a list to start out what we love in you.
* Yes, you’re real.
* You have a faith that’s like a misty mountain behind you; never obtrusive, but always there, and you are a part of its essence.
* You show loads of compassion for your fellow writers, and, in your blog, for the world. You’re never without a kind word, and a verbal arm around the shoulders for a hurting soul.
* You’re dependable. You show up. You now that this is a part of character, and you live and embody the very word,’character’.
* OK, anyone else, please feel free to add to the list.
Oh, and one more thing. If there were one person I could have praying for me as I die, it would be you, Shelli. For all my sins weighting me down, I figure your prayers would get me to Heaven on the updraft.
Andrew, you always know how to take me by the shoulders and point me in the right direction. Means so much to me.
Shelli, I’ve followed in your footsteps more times than I can count, and taken shelter behind the broad shield of your faith when mine had run out. I suspect that when Jesus comes to meet you when you step onto those golden streets, the poor Guy is going to be knocked flat by the greeting-rush of people in whose lives you made such a great difference.
* Write on, Shelli. The world needs your voice.
This is what your beta readers are for, Shelli. Their combined feedback will confirm those elements that are unique to your writing if you direct them to be looking for it as they read your work. I’d say there is a sweetness to your writing as well as the “real” factor.
Thank you, Mary. I need to be more intentional.
Great post, Mary! You know YOUR readers, and this is, I think, something we all needed. Especially me, as it brought me to the flowering of a realization that had been emerging from the darkness of my subconscious: I Did Not Like My Target Audience.
* I grew up in the time of the hippie/drug culture/Revolution! time, and I loathed it with all my heart. I took a very different path in life, partly because of the lack of discipline and decency I saw around me. And when they changed I despised them more for abandoning what principles they had, and saw their lockstep lockjaw legalism as a Potemkin village they were building and continually maintaining to hide the reality of their lives.
* Boy, what a cold, hard and uncompassionate jerk I was. And, to a degree, still am. My lip curls at the sound of ‘baby boomer’, and my eyes harden. Because in my heart of hearts I still think I’m better than they are.
* So my new target audience is pretty much…people like me. Folks who have seen and done things that put them outside the traditional framework and values of society and culture, looking for a bright reality beyond the cloying gossamer veils of this dream-world. People who find their paths in Sun-Tzu and Lao-Tse and C.S. Lewis and Musashi Miyamoto and John 3;16.
* They may be out there, or I may be hunting unicorns with a butterfly net, but so help me I’ll write for them, and in so doing may yet find salvation of my soul.
Andrew, I always appreciate your transparency. It’s a leveler for all of us. And fortunately, John 3:16 shows us the bright reality. Write on.
Thank you for your post, Mary. It is good food for thought as I edit and rewrite.
*Based on your questions, I think I”m heading in the right direction. My YA heroine’s motivation is family/friend oriented and the forces behind her tension are both worldly and spiritual. I realize not every teen will face my heroine’s particular dilemma or the spiritual warfare magnifying it, but I think her come-heck-or-highwater spunk will resonate with readers and deliver the intended message: overcoming personal failure through hope, perseverance and God’s grace.
*Reading both Christian and secular YA helps me stay in touch with the market and so far I feel my own character’s voices are strong in their unique way.
*The area I’m most lacking is platform and a following. Yesterday’s post by Rachelle Gardner help immensely with my self-inflicted shortcomings.
I now feel God has given me an idea and direction on how to reach my target audience and I realize His timing, not mine, will be essential to its success.
Another thing we need to consider besides age differences is geographical ones. About ten years ago I moved from an urban to semi-rural area and was amazed at the difference in the culture even though the two areas are only a few hundred miles apart. And I’m sure the differences are greater with greater distances. I guess this applies more to story content than to marketing, but where do more of our potential buyers live?
Absolutely right, Jan. One thing that’s a salient difference is that urbanites have a feeling of anonymity, semi-rurals a feeling that everyone knows their business, and true bushmen (like me) the attitude that my business is no one else’s. I suspect one can only write to one mindset, while giving a nod to another one; but nowhere can all three be comingled.
I was hesitant to write this, but here goes. God help me, and I hope no one’s offended, but I’m throwing down a challenge.
* Please, someone, write for the guys and gals who’ve stood knee-deep in mass graves, and can never get the smell out of their noses and hearts. Please help us find a light on the other side of vengeance.
* Please write for those we came home to a country that was at the mall while we were out a’killin’.
* Please write for those who look into a pistol barrel every day, and for those twenty-two combat veterans who pull the trigger…EVERY DAY.
* We NEED you. We fought so you could be safe. Please?
Andrew, nobody who hasn’t gone through those experiences can understand them. It’s people like you who need to do that kind of writing.
Jan, you’re right. But going to the core is very, very dangerous. There’s an abyss that Jesus may negotiate. But I’m no Jesus.
* Also, there has to be a bridge…I can write from my island, but I can no longer speak the language of the mainland. I can be that voice, but I – we – need a translator. Does this make sense?
Andrew, I pray God will light a fire in the hearts of those best equipped to meet your challenge.??
Andrew, what you said does make sense, but I have no idea how to find anyone who can do that.
As a former ASL interpreter I know interpreters need to understand both languages fluently, so you’d need someone who has been there but has no emotional scars. I doubt that anyone like that exists. Of course miracles of healing do happen.
Christ is the Bridge. Sometimes it takes people without scars to help the wounded hobble to safety.
*Even if I can’t help, I can pray.
I write stories of difficult friendships that grow into love under dangerous circumstances. There’s relationship tension and situation tension with it looking like everything is falling apart, sometimes more than once, before moving to a happy conclusion. I hope the novels will give my readers a thrilling emotional ride through a culture (Roman Empire) both similar to and radically different from our own.
*My betas in their 30s seem as excited about them as the ones in their 50s and 70s. Maybe it’s because they are set in an ancient time that makes them appeal to multiple age groups, or maybe it’s because everyone loves to see what should never work out for two people turn into a happy ending by the grace of God.
Carol, what a sweet picture!
Thanks, Shelli! If the image is small enough, even I can look good!
Andrew, I can’t find the “reply” prompt on your comment about needing a translator and agree wholeheartedly. It doesn’t matter what situation a person is in, they need someone who’s been there, understands, and can help them navigate all of the topography to finding a way to mainstream culture, if that’s the desire…it’s not always.
But, I think, that’s our job as writers and why there are so many of us using different voices, different genres, etc. that in the midst of it all, one heart will be touched and hopefully helped by what we’ve gone through and thus are sharing. I can’t share from the venue you’re talking about but I can share from my own and that’s what makes my voice uniquely mine and the audience drawn to it.
Thanks for all you share.
Mary,
I never looked at generational differences like that, but it makes a lot of sense.
*One thing I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is something I call “family culture”. That can play a big part in how a person looks at the world, also. For example, in one family, the members are “in and out” of each other’s lives all the time–they get together just to spend time with each other, they support one another,etc. Another family may only hear from relatives when someone gets sick or dies, even when the relatives live close by. This is similar to the geographical cultural differences Janet and Andrew mentioned, but in a much smaller sense.
*I am not sure, though, how this could play out in either fiction or nonfiction, except that it could affect a character’s motivation or lack of it.