Writer to Reader

While I’m sure that there are a ton of different ways to create compelling and attention grabbing writing material, there's a certain kind of layered depth in the processing of whatever a person is writing that is required in my opinion. I think it goes beyond having a list of start off sentences for students to use for their introduction of an essay, or having the notion that your reader’s mental dusty cobwebbed gears are turning again because you started off a paragraph with a question, immediately assuming that the reader is reevaluating their whole life and has become suddenly enlightened by a manufactured start off question. I always say this, but how impactful you want to be as a writer will reflect in your work. So, to put things into perspective, a first step to consider is simply to know your audience. It doesn’t matter if you’re a student, a magazine columnist, a teacher, or a book author. To be engaging in your writing means you’ll have to be relatable, perceptually expansive, and actually caring. Not like coddling caring, but like caring to the outcome you want for your audience after they’ve read your work. And while it is important to know your audience, it is just as important to keep in mind that not every piece needs to have the goal of somehow changing what your audience already prefers to read. Being informative or expressive is enough. If you’re a student being relatable, slightly humorous, and unhesitant to put your reader onto something new is great too. Also, if you’re feeling bold, using a thesaurus for your essays can be a game changer. As a journalist, what are your audience's statistics? Are they elderly, teenagers, or young adults? As a teacher, what is your class like? Are they rowdy or receptive? What topics produce the best or not so fantastic grades? As an author, there is a bit more room for flexibility. I think a key component is using your imagination with what your audience may be going through, and somehow integrating it through your writing... with happy endings of course. Everybody loves a happy ending.