How to Write for Your Target Audience According to John Steinbeck

Don't go off into fanciness.

This quote comes from Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters by John Steinbeck on page 4 of my copy.

Several parts of this quote caught my attention.

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#1. I like how he used “fanciness” to describe what happens when writers don’t have a specific audience or reader in mind.

Think: How do you spot “fanciness” in your writing?

#2. Notice how Steinbeck planned to speak to his “target audience.”

• Very straight.

• Clearly.

• Simply.

Todd Brison

wrote, “Writers forget their earliest teaching: writing simple, declarative sentences that can be easily understood.”

Think: Why is it “necessary” to communicate this way?

#3. His “target audience” was his two little boys - not as children, but as grown men.

Imagine the unique challenge of writing to your readers not for who they are today, but for who they will be in 25 years!

Think: How would you write for who you think your audience will be in the future?

I’d love to hear and learn from your thoughts.