TOO MANY NEWBIE writers approach the craft like the little girl with her bow and arrow in the accompanying cartoon. It’s a version of, “Fire, ready, aim!” Backwards.

Publishers want to know who your audience is; the answer, “Everyone” really means “no one.” When you sit down to write you need to know who you are aiming your words at.

Actually, readership is a bit like an archery target. There is a red center, but then there are other outer rings that also score points. It’s helpful to identify the bullseye and two or three other outer rings for your book. Who is the primary, target audience:  Pastors? Entrepreneurs? Couples who have remarried with kids in the house?

Have them in mind when you sit down to write. But don’t forget those outer rings that also “score.” Who are the people that might be reading “over the shoulder” of your bullseye audience, as it were–church staff, marketers, counselors or Christian education workers?

Having a clear sense of you who are speaking to will shape your writing. It helps you determine what you need to say and how you need to say it. Christian radio used to do a lot of market research on its audience. They found that the majority of their listeners were mostly with kids in school. Some stations actually referred to their audience members as “Becky’s,” because it helped them identify with their market.

Luke was writing to “most excellent Theophilus” when he penned his Gospel. There are different theories as to who this person actually was, but he was clearly someone Luke considered to be influential and important. He also knew why he was writing: “So that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (emphasis added).

Luke wasn’t alone in having this clarity of purpose. Consider fellow Gospel author John: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin (1 John 2:1, emphasis added).

Then there was the apostle Paul: “I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice” (2 Corinthians 2:3, emphasis added) and “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God…”(1 Timothy 3:14, emphasis added). 

As a result of reading your words, what do you want your readers to know and what do you want your readers to do? If you don’t have a “so that” you are left with a “so what?”