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Understanding the audience is crucial in writing. Writers should consider who will read their work and adjust their writing style accordingly. Inexperienced writers often assume there is only one way to express themselves, but clear language is usually best. Knowing the audience’s expectations is connected to the Greek term kairos, which involves understanding how to appeal to a specific group. Ultimately, writers should write not only to satisfy themselves but also to satisfy, excite, or please others.
In writing, the audience is an important consideration. Before a writer puts anything to paper, he should consider exactly who is going to read it. These readers are the public, and a writer might need to change writing styles slightly to capture the interest of different ones.
Sometimes, especially in school settings, the concept of audience may not be clearly defined in a written assignment. Students may not feel confident writing to please the teacher, themselves, or their classmates. Asking a teacher to define who the work should be aimed at is an excellent way for a writer to figure out how to express themselves.
For example, a question that is often asked in student papers is whether the writer can assume that the reader has some knowledge of the subject. If he can assume that the audience has read the material or is familiar with the topic he is discussing, this tells him that he can be more technical and may not need to briefly summarize or define the topic before going into detail. . On the other hand, if he is introducing a new concept or idea that the reader is not familiar with, brief summaries and explanations may be needed to clarify the ideas.
Inexperienced writers often have the idea that there is only one way to express themselves, and that is through very academic and long-winded language. For some readers, such as a group of deconstructionists, this may be the best medium to communicate, but for most, including teachers, simple, clear language is the best way to express an idea. Most modern writing, except at the undergraduate academic levels, should aim for clear expression, easy-to-understand words, and really should resemble a slightly more formal mode of expression than speaking. Students often assume that a high writing style will score them points with a peer or teacher, when it usually has the opposite effect.
People who haven’t had much writing experience often make this mistake in business as well. Whether a person is writing a memo, an employee review, a cover letter, or a company email, he or she should be writing to the intended reader. In most cases, the audience is likely to be someone like the writer, with roughly the same level of education. Using big words and long sentences may not help him.
Novelists and poets are often successful only to the extent that they can write to a defined audience. For example, the Harry Potter books were written in such a way as to appeal to young readers. JK Rowling could have written the books for an older reader, and the books contain elements that adults really like, but the language choices she makes are also very appealing to children and make the books accessible to young readers. Her choices in subject matter, her use of humor and her creativity are all examples of Rowling’s understanding of the target reader.
Knowing the public, and knowing what this group expects, is often connected to the Greek term kairos. Loosely defined, kairos means knowing what to say and when to say it. It involves a sense of good timing and an understanding of the portion of society, however small, that a person wants to address. Kairos was a key term in the teaching of rhetoric and speech in ancient Greece because it helped young writers learn to read an audience and understand how best to appeal to that group.
From the Greek point of view, and in many modern writing classes, a person cannot just write, but must also learn how the world works. Words are powerful things that can either inspire or disgust a reader, or completely fail to convey what the writer wants. They must be chosen with care. Ultimately, understanding an audience is about understanding the person or people who are going to read the work. It means that the author should write not only to satisfy himself, but also to satisfy, excite, or please others.
