I'm working through "Writing Fiction for Dummies" in an effort to improve my writing skills, and one of the exercises is to describe the sort of person who might be interested in reading your novel. I was pretty much guilty of just writing whatever the heck pleased me...but I do admit that having a rough idea of who I'm writing for might help to keep the story a bit more consistant. Keep in mind that it doesn't have to describe everyone who would read your GN, but it helps you describe who your "niche" fans.....the fans that would be the most die-hard supporters...would be.

Here's my attempt:

My ideal reader is a white male in his 30's. He used to read comics as a kid and is a big fan of sci-fi, fantasy and action movies. He is technology literate, a political moderate, and would call himself a christian. He considers himself to be an optimist and is a bit nostolgic. His favorite movies are "Star Wars", "Star Trek", "Indiana Jones" and "Back to the Future".

I have to admit that it seems a bit arbitrary, but it is an interesting exercise in picturing your reader. I suppose it would be also helpful in describing who your market audience and helpful in giving ideas of how and where to market your GN.

So, what do you think? Does the idea have merit, or is it a waste of time?

-Dave

I dunno. Everything has an audience, no? We're living in strange times. So many niches, you can't possibly count them all.

As far as I'm concerned, writing 'whatever the heck pleases me' is my number one priority. However, if the primary goal of this whole adventure is sell, sell, sell... then I can see value in defining one's audience. Doing so might provide guidance when trying to decide which direction to take the story. For example, if you know who your readers are (or who you think they'll be) you can try to avoid alienating them with story elements that might rub them the wrong way.

I don't write to an audience either. I understand the need to do so for a professional comic or movie writer, but this is where I'm glad not to be one. I let the story write itself and keep in mind The Hero's Journey to tweak it here and there and make it compelling. I think also of close friends who are truly invested in the story, and how they would react to this or that.

I write for what pleases me, because I don't have any way to measure what would please someone else. I am careful to make sure that things are explained in the most efficient manner, not assuming anything in the way of existing knowledge. I'm going with the base assumption that any reader who has more than a passing interest in what I'm writing about also has some interest in the same subjects I'm interested in, so my focus as a writer is to work my exposition as well as I can so that it's relatively transparent to the hardcore audience, yet informative to the interested yet more casual reader.

An unfortunate trend that I see in some very well-drawn and competently written (in terms of character and dialog) webcomics is a total disregard for exposition... even in unique original-world fantasy or SF stories where you really have no idea what's going on until it's explained. This has become really common in contemporary Japanese animation and manga... there is an assumption that the reader will struggle through several chapters with literally no idea what's going on... either they are expected to read some Wiki or just soldier along with a heavy load of unanswered questions assuming that all will be revealed at some point.

Perhaps the most illustrative example of failure in exposition in modern popular culture would probably be George Lucas' second Star Wars trilogy. You know there's a problem when the climactic movie in the series is titled "Revenge of the Sith," yet in the span of six movies there is no hint of who the "Sith" might be or why they might seek revenge. (Yes, I know who the Sith are, but I didn't get that information from any of the movies.)

I definitely write to an audience. I try to make that audience as broad as possible. In my mind, there are stories that despite genre can transcend to any level of readers IF it is a good enough story. I don't like sci-fi in the least, but I am beginning to read Dune, and so far have not been disappointed. I like fantasy, but have never really been into reading those kind of books...but Harry Potter? Oh yeah. I absorbed those. I loved "Blankets" despite not really caring for autobiographies, especially not graphic novel forms.

There is definitely plenty of need for "genre" graphic novels. The kind that...hey, your average joe might not find appealing, but someone very much into fantasy or sci-fi might. If that is your cup of tea, I think it's important to have a specific character in mind to write for. And of course, writing something you find enjoyable is a no-brainer. If you don't fall in love with your story, who will?

The only problem with writing only for yourself without /any/ acknowledgment of your audience is that you hover dangerously near Mary Sue, Author Avatar, and Wesley territory. That is, writing characters for yourself that would be awesome to be if they were you - but tend to annoy the snot out of anyone reading. Perfect princesses or grating whiners that manage to have the whole cast of characters bending to their every whim...yeah.

My intended audience and my actual audience are two different things I think. I'd like to reach a wider audience. Transcend the line between people with the pregnancy fetish and people that just like the story or characters. Theoretically if I had left out the pregnancy content it probably could, but I think it would just be a generic story that would resemble Percy Jackson too much. (Even though my story is older that the book is.) A lot of the conflict comes from it.

I do write for myself and women like me so my parts of the story usually come off emotionally impacting. My co-writer writes for himself and men like him so his parts are action packed or highly fetish oriented. We each have our 'Mary sues', but I think they work because they tend to be the stand-ins for each of our reader groups. Those two are the ones that most people comment on understanding and enjoying.

So right now I'd say the person I aim for is someone of any race or gender. A child of the 80s or younger. They enjoy or at least know about Greek Mythology. They enjoy teen angst and teen super hero stories. Probably a bit geeky to catch the pop-culture references.

From what I can tell my actual audience is 90% male between the ages of 16 and 40(Mostly 20s). Geeky. With a pregnancy fetish. Most of them are ashamed of it so they use Google to search for my comic instead of bookmarking it. My best commentors are the ones that are open with their close loved ones about their fetish or women that think it's normal.

I think it's important from a marketing perspective to know your audience, who your work appeals to the most. Everyone has an audience, and while you don't have to have one in mind before you sit down, you should probably find out who they are and fast. It just makes the most business sense, and if you're self publishing, guess what! You're a business!

Writing for an audience can mean an age level, too. Something you'd write into a story for a 20something might not go over so well with a middle-aged housewife, or a boy of 10. You don't have to change your story, but it's pretty important from a marketing perspective.

In terms of writing for an audience, yeah I kind of do it. I know I'm writing for late teens/early 20s (and possibly beyond) women who like manga and/or urban fantasy. That's me, and I'm writing what I like, but I know there are other people like me who will like it too.

Dave_Flora - Interesting topic!

I have mixed opinions about this. All tv/movie studios focus on who you are marketing too and make critical decisions based on it. It can completely change a shows idea and make a good concept into a pile of trash. It can pull a pile of trash into a good selling show too. It all makes me really annoyed though. No networks will invest in a new show idea that are not proven to be popular already in their minds. They don't want to take risks and so they try to figure out who they are marketing to to lower risk and broaden their audience.

I specifically started making a graphic novel because I was sick of trying to please a group of people and fit my ideas into a category. So I just starting making a graphic novel exactly like I wanted to find and read. I'm just making what I wish I could find at a convention.

But when I started reMINDblog.com, I primarily focused on other comic creators, not a genera or age group or anything else. I think that's the only real category I'm thinking about.

I recently read a good book on marketing called "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" and it's amazing. One of the things they said that stuck with me was that Marlboro marketed to the cowboy. How many cowboys are there in the world today? Not many, but Marlboro is the number 1 cigarette. Pepsi marketed to the next generation (the young crowd) for a long time. It doesn't mean that only young kids drink Pepsi, everyone bought it. In other words who you market to is different than who your audience actually is.

So with reMIND, I'm trying to focus and market to other artists, but my audience is obviously everyone else too. Maybe this is getting way off from the subject that Dave started. Sorry. Great discussion though!

We've always wanted to write the comics that we want to write, but at the same time, we have an equally strong desire to share those comics with other people. Because of that, I've thought often about the audience that would like the stories that I want to write (and would want to read!)

I like to imagine our audience as 5 kinds of scifi fans. In a way, they're all aspects of myself, but they all represent a specific audience. They are also correlated to the five races in our comic:

1) The Porg: The Porg and their stories often appeal to Star Trek fans, the Porg live in a utopian galactic empire. This audience is older, and likes the subtly of interpersonal interaction in front of starscapes and political intrigue between the governments of distant worlds. They like their ships sleek, like designer cars. Picard's "everybody wins or status quo" approach makes him their hero.

2) The Kaean: Kaean space marines are the underdogs fighting their way out of darkness with their rusty spaceships and chainguns. Their fans like stories that are gruff and rough on the edges; they want their heros carry machine guns, and their ships to go fast and have lots of armor, cause that's what counts in Warhammer 40k. The characters rely on personal strength and determination to win the day. Their favorite character is an obscure general or starfighter pilot from a complex story universe you've never heard of.

3) The Turikasuul: The Turikasuul reader might seem immature, but they've got lofty ideals of doing what's right and being an honorable warrior. They probably fancy themselves a warrior, even though they're still in school, or the most epic battles they face daily are collectible card games. Seeing somebody get gored open is just as important as telling a good story. This reader is all about the fantasy-fulfillment of awesomeness. They love Wolverine, cause he's the best at what he does.

4) The Xotron: The Xotron reader wants to keep up appearances and read about something that's cool. They are fascinated by power, and seeing the power relationships between characters. The exchange of power and the movement of plans is what fascinates them about a story, rather than the unique features of personality, or the greater arc and direction. In their eyes, James Bond would be better if only he was the head of the Outer Space Foreign Intelligence Agency.

6) Our fifth audience: They grew up with some weird scifi stuff and enjoy seeing interesting and crazy ideas. They're not so much into the conflict of the story, but they kinda wanna explore another world, or outer space, or maybe a dreamworld. Just keep it original and colorful. Doctor Who seems a little straight-laced, but always provides a good trip.

I want all our stories to be interesting and engaging to all 5 readers, but I also want to alternate which reader we cater to, providing the stories that draw them to the race they love, but also contrast their values and tastes with a race that they normally vilify or disdain.

We also want to connect with our audience holistically. We're not just here for entertainment, we're here for thought, discussion, expression, and education; hopefully we provide a balance of all those engaging topics in a way that meets our 5 readers in a deeply satisfying way.

I think that statement hits the nail on the head for me.

It's also interesting seeing your breakdown of all 5 categories.

Wow...such a range of great replies! I'm willing to be that most of the replies line up with the person's writing style; ie, people who write "by the seat of their pants" don't think much about who their writing the story for...they're writing, dammit! While those people who prefer a more planned approach might consider who they plan on being their audience.
I'd never really given the idea much thought before this book...one of the things I'm really enjoying about it. It actually bowls me over how much planning I'm putting into the whole thing....it seems like I should be drawing...but I've done the "seat of my pants" thing and it makes the plot more "spotty" than I'd like. I want to do my best to deliver a real, visceral, seat-of-your-pants ride.
It just seemed to make sense that I should know who's pants I'd be riding!

Ecna- Man...you blow me away with your reader/race idea. Wow.

-Dave

Or, perhaps, you market to who your intended audience wants to be, at least when selling lifestyle items like cigarettes, drinks, clothing, etc. I think comics may be more esoteric than this, but it's a good point - targeting one group can draw in others you don't expect!

When I started working on my comic I was aiming it at a very narrow group of colleagues of mine who I knew liked stories about the military, robots and tanks. To my surprise, I gained a following in Germany (of all places!) among a set of software engineers. And later, in Russia, among sci-fi fans who were rooting for the "bad guys" in my story! ("Look! One Russian in a truck is defeating the whole American army!")

So you never know. Aim at one, you may end up catching another.

--M

Aw, I didn't see myself in that list, although I am a hard-core sci-fi fanatic! I grew up reading as much Asimov as I could find. I like the stuff that digs deep into the "what if?" questions and really tries to envision a world where things are really, really different, but disturbingly plausible. Take it or leave it, that's the kind of sci-fi reader I am.

Back to the original question. First and foremost, I write stories for me. I write them because they are stories I wish I could read, but no one's written yet.
Second, I write them for my friends. By that I mean not just all the friends that I've ever had and will have, but all the people who could potentially be my friend but I will never meet them. People tell me things, embarrassing things, in late-night confessions after the beer has run its course and you've switched to coffee. Secrets come out. Then comes the moment of despair when the confessor asks, "Why am I the only one who feels this way?" I've asked it, too. If we could only hear each other, how many of us have the same secrets and feel utterly alone with them! I get very impatient with Hollywood for always shying away from things that are hard to talk about. So I write for anyone who needs to know they aren't the only one.

I try to write that stuff but it keeps coming true before we publish.

I invented real-time overlay translation for our February comic, and the next morning I woke up and it was trending on Twitter. WTF.

Asimov had it easier before the internet.

Well - I actually write in order to free myself from every romantic thought and to make this world a little bit more romantic like it has been back in old days when men were Gentlemen and women were ladies - well mannered, well read and well bread. I simply loved that time and I am so inspired by the thought that people might realize one day that it is important to have good manners, good taste, a good education and a healthy sense for romantic acts.