Writing: Understanding Your Audience

For whom are you writing? Before you begin, think about your audience. A reader is at the other end of your writing, and you should keep that reader in mind.

Student writers sometimes think that their audience is a stuffy instructor who will be impressed by big words and long sentences. But most teachers know good, clear writing when they see it. Most can distinguish between solid content and inflated trivia. If you have little to say but dress it up in overblown prose with commas in all the right places, you won't fare as well as someone who has something to say and says it clearly, even with a few mechanical errors.

The reason you're writing and the audience you're writing for are closely related, so be realistic. If you're writing a letter to a surfing magazine praising a new board, you'll use different language and a different tone than you will in a college paper on Mikhail Gorbachev's success in attempting to modernize Russia in the late 1980s. Though both audiences want to understand and be interested in what you write, they'll expect and respond to different styles. Changing your language, style, or tone to meet specific circumstances is fine. But don't make the mistake of thinking that you can be straightforward in the letter to the surfing magazine while you should strive to sound important in the paper on Gorbachev.

Ask yourself some specific questions about your audience before you begin. Among some things to consider

Are you writing for people in a particular field, such as psychology, English literature, or genetics? Can you assume knowledge of the terminology and concepts you'll be using, or do you need to define them in the paper? Will you need to provide extensive background information on the subject you plan to discuss, or will a brief summary be enough?
What expectations does your audience have? An audience of marine biologists will have different expectations from an article on marine biology than will a general audience, for example.
Are you writing for someone who insists on certain writing practices or who has pet peeves? One instructor may require a five-paragraph essay, or another may forbid the use of intentional sentence fragments. Be aware of any requirements or restrictions. On grammar, punctuation, and usage questions, if you aren't sure about a particular instructor, you're safest taking a conservative path.
What is the reading level of your audience? Instructions and explanations written for fourth graders shouldn't include college-level vocabulary, for example.
Are you writing for an audience that is likely to agree or disagree with your point of view? Consider this question if you're writing an argumentative or editorial piece. It can make a difference in the language you select, the amount of proof you offer, and the tone you use. An editorial for a small-town paper on the importance of family values, for example, is less likely to encounter resistance from the audience than an editorial on legalizing drugs.