Catering to your audience with

the right writing style

Chances are you’ve decided to write a book because you have knowledge,

experience, or an idea that you want to share with others. Like composing

music or creating a sculpture or painting, writing is an art form. As an expert

in your field, you need to be able to communicate your thoughts and ideas

using the written word.

No matter what type of book you’re writing, it’s vital that you thoroughly

understand the book’s intended audience (see Chapter 4 for more about tar-

geting certain readers). The vocabulary, sentence structure, and information

within your book should all cater specifically to your book’s target audience.

The words you use, your sentence structure, and your use of punctuation

and grammar make your book easy or difficult to understand.

For example, writing a children’s book that’s targeted to a 6-year-old and writ-

ing a how-to book written for college educated professionals differ greatly.

The vocabulary you use should be easy for the reader to understand, and

you never want to insult the reader’s intelligence either. Good author know

how to write specifically for the audience they’re trying to reach.

Hire a ghostwriter to help you complete your manuscript if you’re having

trouble writing (see “Hiring all the help you want and need” earlier in this

chapter). Or participate in a few writing classes to help craft your writing

skills. Writing classes and workshops are offered at many community col-

leges, through local adult education programs, and through professional writ-

ers’ and authors’ associations. Refer to recent issues of The Writer or Writer’s

Digest magazines (available at most newsstands) for ads on writer’s confer-

ences, classes, and workshops that are held throughout the country.

It’s your responsibility, as the writer, to create a manuscript that is well-

researched and written and that appeals to your intended audience. If you

hire an editor (see Chapter 5 about hiring an editor), it’s the editor’s job to

fine-tune your manuscript and correct any errors; it’s not his job to rewrite

your manuscript completely so it adheres to basic rules of English style and

punctuation. Never rely on your editor to take a poorly written manuscript

and transform it into what could become a bestseller. Here are a few

reasons why many authors fail to achieve success:

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 Lack of knowledge about the topic they’re writing about: If you don’t

have the knowledge and experience you need to be an expert on any

given topic, doing the necessary research is critical before you actually

begin writing. Check out Chapter 4 for more about research.

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 The inability to cope with writer’s block: At one time or another, all

writers are faced with staring at a blank computer screen or sheet of

paper and not being able to decide what to write or how to best put

their ideas into words. That lack of ideas is called writer’s block. The eas-

iest thing to do is walk away and give up, but the best thing to do to

battle writer’s block is to ensure that you’re chock-full of ideas about

what you want to write about ahead of time and that you’ve done plenty

of research and you’re investing the time to fully develop your idea

before sitting down to write.

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 The failure to hire out specialized tasks, particularly book design, to

qualified professionals: Too many self-published books look obviously

amateurish because the author/publishers have decided that they can

handle design themselves, even when they have no experience. The

result is an unattractive cover and nearly unreadable type. The failure to

hire editors as needed can make books difficult to read and eliminate the

book’s word-of-mouth potential with satisfied readers.

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 Poor marketing and promotional skills: The ability to self-promote is

one of the most important skills a writer should possess, especially if

you plan to self-publish your work. If you don’t properly promote your

work, people may not know it exists, and they may never read it. Part V

is full of helpful information on promoting your writing.

If you’re interested in pursuing writing (and self-publishing) as a career, con-

sider starting out part time, perhaps as a hobby. Write your first book or get a

handful of newspaper and/or magazine articles published. Determine what

area of writing you want to specialize in and begin fine-tuning your writing

skills. Build up your experience, but don’t give up your day job until you’ve

established yourself as a writer with enough earning potential to support

yourself.