4.1: Why Do You Need a Target Audience?
Before you take your story any further than an idea, you need to think about who your book is for.Who do you want to read and enjoy your work? Who do you think it would be most successful with? Of course, every writer would love to say that their books are for everyone but, for the most part, choosing and sticking to a specific audience produces the best results when the sales figures come back. Also if you try to please everyone you will have no focus and you will end up pleasing no-one. It's easy to imagine your novel being enjoyed by all ages and genders, but realistically that is not going to be the case. Having a clear target audience enables you to be focused while writing your book. Think about the style of writing you would use to write a letter to the President. Now imagine you are writing to your best friend. Obviously the styles of writing, information given, words used and structure applied would vary enormously between the two. This is similar when writing a book. If you always have your specific target audience in mind, you will use words, phrases and ideas that are suitable for them. This will make it easier for you to write consistently, and also your readers will be happy as they will feel that the book is specifically for them. Once you concentrate on only pleasing one group of people it will actually feel like a huge relief.
4.2: Which Audience Should You Aim Your Book At?
Now you know how important a target audience is, you need to figure out which is going to be suitable for your story. As we've already talked about, there are numerous fantasy subgenres and your book will likely be a combination of two or more of these. Once you've made your decision you can use your projected audience as a tool to shape your book. For instance, if you want to appeal to the dark fantasy fans then you can tell your story in a more sinister way. Or if you want to appeal to Gaslamp fantasy fans you can set your story in Victorian or Edwardian times.
For younger readers you would want to create characters of a similar age that they can relate to, and for older readers you might focus more on detailed descriptions rather than having long action scenes. Also when writing a book for children you would keep it much shorter than if it were for adults. A good way to figure out your target audience is to imagine exactly what your stereotypical reader would look like. Build a complete profile for them including what they look like, how old they are and what they wear. Ask yourself questions about what they like doing in their spare time, where they go shopping, where they hang out at the weekend, etc. Give them a name and an occupation. Think about what books they might have previously read. Maybe you know someone who fits your target audience description, or otherwise imagine what you're stereotype fan looks like.
Now when you're writing you have someone specific you are writing to. What questions would they have? What would they want to know and what would they consider boring? What would appeal to them in a storyline?
FACT
55% of buyers of Sci-fi books are male
Source: sffworld.com - 2008
4.3: What Different Viewpoints Are There?
One of the first things you'll have to decide before starting to write your fantasy book is what viewpoint to use.
First Person Viewpoint
If you have ever written a diary or journal you will be used to writing in the first person, that is when sentences start with I; 'I did something. Then I did something else.' On one hand this is a great way for the readers to feel an immediate intimacy with the book and with the main character. However on the other hand this viewpoint is somewhat limiting when needing to convey other characters' thoughts and feelings. This would have to be done entirely from the perceptions of your main character from other characters' actions. The first person is a viewpoint that takes practise to write in so as to come across naturally and still be able to succinctly tell your story.
Third Person Viewpoint
The other choice is to write in the third person which most people are comfortable with for telling stories about others; 'She wrote him a poem. He read it and started crying.' Third person is the most versatile viewpoint as you can tell the story from multiple different characters' points of view. You can also reveal your characters' thoughts and feelings, as well as providing a rich descriptive background. You can also choose to reveal things to the reader that your characters have not yet discovered. The third person is the style most writers use as it is easier to get right and sound convincing. However, with the third person there are also limitations to be aware of.
It tends to be less intimate than using the first person so you'll have to work harder to get your readers to empathize with your characters. You also have to be careful when transitioning between the viewpoints of different characters as this can be distracting for the reader. When writing in third person you should also try not to tell too much of the story from the authors' point of view and instead let it be told through the thoughts and actions of your characters. When writing in third person you need to decide how much the narrator is going to know or give away. If you choose to tell the story from an all-knowing standpoint where you tell the story in a slow and lulling way as if telling an old family story to your kids, this is known as having an omniscient narrator. It's a nice way to write but you may find it difficult to generate suspense or surprise from your readers. This kind of narration typically includes long and detailed descriptions and the reader will find a lot out from information that didn't come from the characters themselves.
The other option is to use third person limited narration, which is where you only know as much as your characters do. The reader is right with the character and suffers their frustrations and downfalls, as well as their excitements and surprises. It can be better used to create tension and suspense in the story, and yet still keep the reader up-to-date with any extra information that they might need to understand the plot. The idea is to give the reader what they need but let them acquire as much information as possible from following the characters. That way when the characters are shocked or disappointed, the reader will experience this with them. It should leave the reader wanting to read more to find out what happens next.
4.4: Which Viewpoint Should You Choose?
There is no right or wrong answer to which viewpoint you should choose. All of the ways discussed have been used successfully and it really comes down to the author's preference. To know which is best for you, you should experiment using different viewpoints and see how easy or difficult it is to get across the same information. Read back your work and think about which feels more natural, in which you feel more drawn to the characters, and which you prefer to read. Ask others for their opinions too. Often which viewpoint you choose will also suit your story.
For instance, if you have a lot of backstory and information about your new world to convey, how can you do this
in first person? It would probably have to come across in awkward internal monologues or unnecessary dialogues with other characters. Choosing to write in third person would probably be a better choice. However, if you are writing a stream-of-consciousness novel then writing in first person would work well. (Stream-of-consciousness style aims to portray the multitude of thoughts and emotions passing through the brain as a kind of interior monologue put onto paper.) Many fantasy books are written in third person as there is usually such a lot of information that the reader needs to know.
Module Summary
Lessons Learned Two of the first things to decide before starting to write a novel are target audience and viewpoint.
Choosing a specific target audience to write for will take away the ridiculous ambition of trying to please everybody and will also give you a lot more focus in your writing. Whether you choose to write in first person or omniscient third or limited third viewpoints depends on what kind of story you are writing and also what your personal preference is as a writer.
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