Blog

by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author

If you were to write a story that included highly detailed engineering specifications with illustrations of schematics and complex equations, what would happen to your readers? 

Now, if your audience contains engineers and mechanics and programmers, you could probably expect that they would engage with that content just fine. But what if your audience is primarily romance readers? We can safely assume that a story featuring engineering schematics isn’t going to connect well with an audience of romance readers. 

Maybe you’ve written a deeply complex biblical allegory about end times prophecy. Awesome. But what if your audience is eight-year-old children? How will readers from that demographic connect and engage with the content in your story? Perhaps that information is something readers should appreciate, but if it’s outside the scope of what they are able to process, it will go over their heads. 

When writing coaches and teachers talk about knowing your audience, this is what we mean. It’s all well and good to write a great story, but if you are focused on telling a tale that is too complicated, too advanced, or too detailed for your audience, they won’t know how to engage. Remember, as authors in our media-saturated industry, we aren’t competing against other authors; we are competing against YouTube. If you aren’t able to keep your readers’ attentions, they will jump over to their favorite streaming platform to entertain themselves. 

The most important aspect of knowing your audience is understanding how to engage with them. You have to meet your readers where they are, not where you think they ought to be. That doesn’t mean you have to dumb down your story. It doesn’t mean you have to settle for a story that is less than what you imagined. It does mean, however, that you need to consider your audience before you think about yourself. 

Perhaps it is your vision and brand to share your faith with your readers. That’s beautiful and admirable, a worthy pursuit, but how well do you know your readers? Are you writing to theologians? Or are you writing to children? It’s important to know the difference. 

When I was young and first starting to write stories, I had a dream to revolutionize the writing industry. I wanted to create stories that were so universally beloved that it didn’t matter if they were a little odd; everyone would love them and read them. I discovered soon after attending my very first writing conference that most people within our industry aren’t interested in change of any sort. 

To be honest, most people don’t like change at all. Generally speaking, the average reader doesn’t want to be challenged or poked and prodded; they want stories they recognize. They might say they want new, fresh ideas, but most of the time, they actually want stories that fit in the familiar boxes of the genres they already read. 

That isn’t a criticism. That’s just how people are. And we would be wise to remember that our audiences are, first and foremost, people. 

So, where does this leave us? What does this mean for authors like us who have big ideas and burning hearts and deep desires to lead our audiences to truth and revelation and freedom? 

Well, as harsh as it sounds, the first thing we each need to embrace and accept is that no author has the ability to change a reader’s heart. We can write the best, most professional, most beautiful story in history, but it might still fall flat. Stories are highly subjective, and while there are some elements that can be done objectively well, reader response isn’t always predictable. There is only one Author who can change the human heart, and if we desire to see that kind of change in our readers, we need to appeal to Him for His help. 

But beyond asking God for favor with our audiences, the most meaningful approach to storytelling that an author can take is to make sure the content of our stories is speaking to our readers on their level. Don’t talk down to them. Don’t demand that they reach a certain level of reading proficiency before they can access your stories. 

If you are writing young adult stories, make sure that your characters and your storylines are connected to what young adults are actually living through in today’s world. Engage with that community. Know what matters to them so that you can speak to them in a language they understand. 

We are seeing a surge in popularity among speculative genres right now, which is wonderful, but don’t switch to writing science fiction and fantasy just because it’s popular. If you aren’t already reading it, it’s not a genre you can just jump into without experience. Make the time and the space to read books in the genre and understand their structure and the culture surrounding them.

The dreams and the vision you have for your writing is important, but remember that a storyteller is someone who serves an audience. Put your readers first, and you will have a better chance of writing a story that will resonate with them.

A.C. Williams is a coffee-drinking, sushi-eating, story-telling nerd who loves cats, country living, and all things Japanese. Author of more than 20 books, she keeps her fiction readers laughing with wildly imaginative adventures about samurai superheroes, clumsy church secretaries, and goofy malfunctioning androids; her non-fiction readers just laugh at her and the hysterical life experiences she’s survived. If that’s your cup of tea (or coffee), join the fun at www.amycwilliams.com.