Just last night, I was assisting a grandson on how to write his paper for class. It was a paper in which he was to do research, actually do an experiment, and come to a conclusion. He wrote it per guidelines. He clearly wrote it for a teacher.

That opened the conversation about defining who will read your writing before writing the piece, because it alters the flavor of the piece. For instance, if he writes a creative, fiction piece, he writes it for a certain age group, maybe a certain culture, an audience hoping for a good story . . . not for the teacher. That made him think. He hadn’t been told in class just who his audience was.

Recently Literary Hub published a piece about this. Students write for the professor. The grading is based on guidelines, thoroughness, and if a point was properly made. It wasn’t written to touch the reader, educate the reader, or gain a following by resonating with the reader. It’s written for a grade.

The point was a teacher has to grade the paper. That’s what they get paid to do. The student will get feedback. Quality is very subjective, and usually limited to one person’s opinion. The student knows they will be read.

We’ve all heard the horror stories of a teacher who bashed a paper only for the student to quit writing or postpone doing so for years. The sad thing is that the student is only being taught to write for that teacher. The writing is usually more academic in nature. There’s a big lesson missing.

On the other hand, if classroom writers are taught to write for the class, or for a subjective online audience that may quit reading after the first paragraph if not entertaining enough, the gymnastics shift. The mindset of the writer changes. More minds will be exposed to the writing. A wider net needs to be cast to entertain, educate, or attract the reader.

We hear the cliche so many times about “know your audience.” Stop and think about it for a change. It can really alter how you write. It can determine whether your work sells or not. It can give your writing life.