For a lot of authors, writers, journalists and novelists, the point of getting words out is for others to read them. They need an audience. They worked hard (because writing is hard) and they hope their readers can appreciate their craft. There is also the question of whether one should write for an audience. Should authors write for a generalized reader, but run the risk of sounding mechanical? Or, should writers develop their own voice and find readers who appreciate its uniqueness? If you write what you’d like to read, are you only writing for yourself? By doing so, you are making yourself the audience. Is that perhaps the key to creating authentic work?
“Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience— every reader is a different person.”
(Zinsser, 2013)
In his book “On Writing Well, the Classic Guide for Writing Non-Fiction,”writer and journalist William Zinsser poses the question, “Who am I writing for?” His immediate response? It should be for one’s self. He states, “Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience— every reader is a different person” (Zinsser, 2013). Zinsser argues that when writing, you must do it to satisfy yourself because only then will you truly enjoy it. If you come up with a double entendre, add it. If you think puns are funny, include them. You shouldn’t think you’re alienating a certain portion of the audience who might not “get the joke.” Writers shouldn’t do away with their true voice before it’s even on paper. Take a chance on your own personality, rather than following a certain writing formula for any one group of people.
In the book, Zinsser presents a paradox and it’s a complicated one. It’s a contradiction of whether you should do everything you can to keep the reader’s attention, or not agonize whether the reader stays until the end. Every author can have a unique voice. In doing so, it can help find the right words or topics that will allow writers to express themselves— regardless of what is being written or whom it’s being written for. But sometimes, having a specific reader in mind can help the author strengthen their consistency. This is where Zinsser’s paradox comes into play. He argues that an author should be able to express their personality, but they should also write what the audience wants to hear. This, however, can make the writer lose a part of their voice by making the work less readable.
Journalism is different from writing both fiction and nonfiction. When writing, many journalists have an intended demographic they need to reach.
In his article “The Audience in the Mind’s Eye: How Journalists Imagine Their Readers” (Columbia Journalism Review), James G. Robinson, notes the irony of the newsroom, where journalists make decisions with the audience in mind.
“As a writer works, the decisions they make are based on many factors: their long-term memory, the conventions of their genre, and (conscious or not) an imagined perception of readers’ reactions. Success rests on how accurately they can anticipate how their work will resonate with these imagined audiences; the paradox being that at the time of writing those audiences do not yet exist” (Robinson, 2019). Robinson is suggesting that journalists have an obligation to reach an audience and it is that understanding that helps them with writing effectively.
Zinsser’s paradox lies between two issues: craft, which is one’s mastery of skill, and attitude, which is how one is able to use a skill to express personality. To a journalist, writing for an audience does influence the choices they make, the stories they tell and the topics they cover. But without having their own voice, their work would be 500-word pieces of bullet pointed facts.
Writing genuine, practical material for an audience can be done by a writer who has learned the craft. Doing so succinctly, while weaving one’s personality through it, is what holds the reader’s attention.
We see Zinsser’s paradox often when writers pen something for an audience, but who they are as a writer is still able to peek through. You can always tell when writers have fun doing what they love because readers can feel it while reading their work. Zinsser’s paradox does make sense. You do need to know how to write in order to know how to embed your own voice within the writing.
Work Cited:
Robinson, J. G. (2019). The audience in the mind’s eye: How journalists imagine their readers. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/how-journalists-imagine-their-readers.php.
Zinsser, W. (2006). On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (30th Anniversary). Harper Collins Publishers.