Who Are You Writing To?

Grammatically speaking, I should really be calling this "To Whom Are You Writing?" - but then, that would not go along with my point.

And my point is this: When you are writing, who are you writing to? Are you writing for yourself, just to "hear yourself talk"?Are you envisioning a target audience? Do you know who your potential readers are? Do you care?

If you are writing just for yourself, you probably won't have many, or as many, people interested in what you have to say. But if you are finding a need and meeting it, people will read, comment, and come back to see what ELSE you have to say.

They need to know the WIIFM - no, not a radio station - this stands for What's In It For Me? What do they stand to gain by reading your writing? What will they learn or do differently as a result? If you don't care about this, neither will they! This applies to any type of writing or communication.

The second part to this, and why I chose my title, is to write how you speak. Make it real. Make a connection with your reader. Some writers even visualize a specific person as they write, and write as if they were having a conversation (albeit one-sided) with that person. One author I know says he always writes to his brother, because they have a similar sense of humor.

So, what's in this for you? You will write better, have a more interested audience, and (as it is for me anyway), you might find the words flow easier when you have a specific goal and person you are writing to (no, I don't say "to whom you are writing" to ANYONE I know, even if it IS proper English!).