Writers Need Alter Story Writing For Audiences


Writers like to think that good writing should be enjoyed by any and everybody. If a writer knows how to write stories than it should be appreciated by anybody who likes stories. Unfortunately there are lots of factors that can keep certain people from liking your story that have nothing to do with the quality of it.

Media Saavy

No matter what media you write your story in, there are levels of reader/audience sophistication. You might convey ideas too subtly for someone who doesn't intently read every word of stories. In a movie you wrote some people may not understand that cutting to an object means the character in the previous shot is looking at it. There's a language that each type of media employs and the enjoyment of your story will depend on their fluency in it.

Attention Span

Some people cannot stand any sustained lack of action. They get upset when descriptions last too long or when a novelist portrays the inner life of a character. Younger people especially have no room for the tedious emotions that adults go through and would rather see movies with stuff blowing up or people getting naked. Just because some people don't have the patience for what you write doesn't mean it's not valuable. First you need to get it to people who can keep focused long enough to consume it.

Life Experience

Heavily plotted stories can entertain most everybody, but stories with more nuanced narratives may not hook certain readers. Everybody has had something they want and had a tough time getting it, so those stories anybody can relate to. It's harder when the goal isn't so clear or if it's a goal the audience finds tedious. This doesn't mean you need to write about saving the world, it means what you write just won't appeal to some people. Don't get upset when teenagers don't care about your character's mid life crisis.

Capacity For Empathy

Along with life experience being a requirement for less plot-intensive stories is an ability to empathize with your characters. It may be your fault that people can't relate to your character, but it may be the reader is just self-centered. I knew a friend that only cared about stories with a single male trying to achieve artistic goals, which is precisely what he wanted to do in life. He couldn't see the connection between the life of different people to his own. If some audience member doesn't care about your protagonist that wants to get a girlfriend because he's gay and doesn't like women, it's not a reflection on your writing.

Your audience will not be everybody, so don't write that way. Rather than seek to please everybody, find that balance between what you want to write and what people like to consume. If you have selective writing taste don't be disappointed that not many people like it. It's not you it's them.


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