On today’s #storycrafter Twitter chat, Faye @Writerology led participants through the process of crafting our ideal readers – and responding to questions “in character.”
I’ll admit, I have reservations about RPing on Twitter. Mostly I think it will confuse other followers, so I answered in third person. But the process of creating your ideal client/customer/reader is important for anyone looking to promote a product or service, and I found the answers came easily. My ideal reader isn’t me exactly, but she’s similar to me. She is someone I’d be friends with, and indeed, someone very much like friends I already have.
Rosa’s in her late 20s/early 30s. She lives in a city full of diverse people, and works full-time in a creative field. She’s a big consumer of media, and grew up loving stories in all formats – books, TV shows, comics, movies, cartoons, and myths. She’s into arts and crafts. She’s social, friendly, honest, and smart. She can also be kind of judgmental. She’s a harsh critic, and has high standards, but she also fears being judged. More than anything, she wants to see herself represented in the media she enjoys. Rosa has big messy brown curls and wears glasses. She still loves print books but she owns an ereader for convenience.
This was a fun exercise. (But I didn’t want to admit that my ideal reader is a harsh critic!) Faye pointed out that we could all use our ideal readers’ strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and fears in our own writing to make sure we’re connected with our readership.
Who’s your ideal reader?