Just like we can’t please everybody in life, we can’t write a story everyone will love. If we try, we’ll end up with something so bland and shapeless it will be absolutely unmemorable. Sorry to start with tough love like that, but it’s true, and it’s so important to come to terms with that as writers.

But here’s the good news: when we narrow down our audience and write to a very small group—or even just one person—we can start to write very specifically, tailoring every sentence and every moment to our ideal audience.

So, I challenge you to stop writing for a "market." Instead, identify one or two or three people who might be your ideal audience, and write for them. Maybe you're writing your YA fantasy for your thirteen-year-old niece and her best friend. Maybe you're writing your memoir for your children. Or your political novel for your college roommate who aspired to be senator. Whoever you choose as your ideal audience, make it someone you know well, and write to them. With every new scene, every new change in status or shift in objective, consider this audience. What will get them excited? What will keep them turning pages? You'll find you can be much more specific and much more confident when you’re writing to one or two people you know than when you try to write for a huge group of strangers.

This may seem counterintuitive. After all, don’t we want our writing to be relatable to all our readers? How can it be, if it was crafted for just one person? Well, the reality is that the universal truths live in the details. Think back to the last book you read that you really related to—the one you thought must have been written just for you. I'd be willing to bet you felt that way because, even if you didn't share the author's or main character's experience, the nuance made it feel real to you. And we can only achieve that nuance when we let go of pleasing everybody and visualize an ideal audience that we know as well as we know our main characters.

Who are you writing for? Let me know in the comments!