"They have come dressed as robots or space goddesses or aliens because a writer has changed their lives." Andrew Sean Greer
Who is the audience for my novel?
The answer to this question is not everyone. There are 7.9 billion people in the world. No book appeals to all of them. A book that appealed to even a majority would be colorless, so as not to offend.
Instead of trying to capture the largest audience possible, make your novel personal. Can you imagine the power of a novel written specifically for one person? Perhaps it's the woman in your book club who barely gets along with her extended family. Maybe it's your friend from college whose life is so different from yours. It could be the kid in your son's third-grade class with the big dreams and sad eyes. Even if that person never knows you wrote the book with them in mind, such an intimate story will resonate with many.
Chicago Manual of Style QuickStudy
Novels follow the grammatical and formatting guidelines of the Chicago Manual of Style. One of the best writing tools I've found is the abbreviated version, CMS QuickStudy. It doesn't replace the original tome, but this portable, laminated trifold will answer most of your writing questions - and it's less than $7. It covers copyright and fair use, style and usage, tricky words (i.e. affect/effect), punctuation, dates and numbers, capitalization, abbreviations and acronyms, quotations, and much more. It also makes a great gift for your writer friends.
Photo Inspiration - Torres del Paine, Argentina 1998
What story would you write about this photo?
Next Step Book Coach - If you're ready to start your novel, are stuck in the middle, or have finished and need to know what to do next - we can help.
Perfection and Writing Paralysis