Tuesday, April 6, 2021

What's the Best Format for Your Writing & Your Audience?


by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

Once you know your audience and the take-home value your writing will provide to that audience, it’s time to decide on the best vehicle to convey your message. There are myriad ways for a writer to communicate including:

  • Advertising
  • Analytics
  • Apps
  • Article
  • Blogs
  • Business Letter
  • Children’s Books
  • Cookbooks
  • Curriculum
  • Devotionals
  • Fiction
  • Flash Cards
  • Flash Fiction
  • Greeting Cards
  • Instructions
  • Marketing Copy
  • Memoir
  • News Reports
  • Poetry
  • Profiles
  • Reports
  • Reviews
  • Screenplays
  • Scripts
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Spreadsheet
  • Technical Writing
  • Travel Tips
  • Video Games
  • Web Content

After shopping a book proposal for quite a while, an agent suggested the multi-sensory story of the pioneers who dared to see how fast they could go in the unregulated, flaming, thunderous, and unpredictable AA Fuel Altered race cars would be better told as a screenplay. Another project, spawned from my early bestseller, What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Say, worked best as a line of greeting cards. A children’s topic became more interactive and effective as a game. 

 

Wanna test your book idea? Publish the topic as an article. Introduce your memoir in a Chicken Soup for the Soulsubmission. If your novel lags in the middle, can the manuscript work as a short story or novella or part of an anthology? 

As writers, we have myriad formats to connect with readers. When you know your target audience, and the take-home value you want to deliver, then consider what format will be the most effective to share your message. You have a plenty of options.

TWEETABLE

Don't Miss the other Posts in this Series:

Tropical island votary and history buff, PeggySue Wells parasails, skydives, snorkels, scuba dives, and has taken (but not passed) pilot training. Writing from the 100-Acre wood in Indiana, Wells is the bestselling author of twenty-eight books including The Slave Across the Street, Slavery in the Land of the Free, Bonding With Your Child Through Boundaries, Homeless for the Holidays, and Chasing Sunrise. Optimistic dream-driver, PeggySue is named for the Buddy Holly song with the great drumbeat. At school author visits, she teaches students the secrets to writing, and speaks at events and conferences. Connect with her at www.PeggySueWells.com, on Facebook at PeggySue Wells, and Twitter @PeggySueWells.

7 comments:

  1. PeggySue,

    i love this list of writing possibilities and the diversity that we have in our lives as writers. We are not locked into one type of writing but can write many different forms and formats. Thank you for this eye-opening article of opportunities.

    Terry
    author of 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed

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    Replies
    1. Terry, with your experience I imagine you can add to this list of writing styles. Let me know what you would include.

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    2. PeggySue,

      I included a list of writing possibilities in the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams which is located here: Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams sample Hope it helps,

      Terry

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    3. Awesome, thank you for the resource, Terry!

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  2. Thank you for this great reminder. I write in different genres. Children's, fiction, and non-fiction. All inspirational. What a neat idea to think of different ways to use our stories. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Melissa, its also fun to use different styles together, for instance Tolkien wrote song lyrics into the Hobbit story. Our fiction characters can write poetry, and we can take lines from our books and turn them into greeting cards.

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  3. Melissa, some write specifically in a niche, others have a couple related avenues. And a few - often called generalists - write in many genres. Occasionally I meet writers who try different styles just for the fun and the challenge. You are talented in several arenas!

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