How to write for one specific reader

1 The bottom line

Picture one real reader, with a face, and write to that person. A specific reader decides your tone, what to explain and what to cut, while writing for everyone reaches no one.

2 Key takeaways

• Write to one person, not to a crowd. A crowd has no face, so you cannot tell what it needs.
  • One writer finds his best work in a daily 200 to 250 word journal sent to one friend, which takes about an hour and a half Packy McCormick1:05:04.
  • Ali Abdaal typed an answer to a med school friend about investing. The video made from it has about 8 million views and over $100,000 in revenue Ali Abdaal13:46.
• Choose a reader you can actually know. You cannot know the market, but you can know yourself and your friends.
  • A book on the tables now was conceived 4 or 5 years ago, so a chased trend is already old Matt Haig25:05.
  • Atul Gawande imagines readers like himself and his friends, and says it surprised him how well the books did Atul Gawande56:45.
• Aim slightly above what the reader knows, and add what they lack. Smart readers are bored by recaps and by over-explaining.
  • Fareed Zakaria assumes readers know what happened and supplies the framework, context or history they have not thought of Fareed Zakaria12:41.
  • Kevin Kelly says if you mention DNA you do not need to explain it, unlike newspaper tech writers trained to target an 11th grader Kevin Kelly10:25.
• Match tone, references and form to that reader. A reference or joke that needs background the reader lacks falls flat.
  • Robert Mac's Road Runner joke gets a laugh every time but got zero from Indian businessmen at a fundraiser for a Maryland candidate Robert Mac12:58.
  • In St. Ives, the cafe with a five pound sign had a queue while the cafe with the huge menu was empty Harry Dry22:50.
• Tell the reader what they get before you start. They pay with time and attention, and nobody cares about your excitement.
  • A book costs a reader about $25 and nine hours, so Daniel Pink asks what promise he is making Daniel Pink49:31.
  • Lulu Cheng Meservey's examples of self-focus are crypto firms bragging about the blockchain and AI products bragging about being built on AI Lulu Cheng Meservey1:00:39.

when you try to write for the stadium, you don't hit the stadium.

Packy McCormick, Not Boring

2.1 Pick the reader before you write

A narrow, named reader forces sharp choices, and "everybody" forces none.

• Name your audience precisely. Writers talk themselves into believing everybody will read the book, and Daniel Pink18:48 says it is never everybody.
  • Pink says a proposal must clearly articulate who the audience is, because naming them forces sharper choices about what the book contains.
  • Go down to what the reader is doing when they see your words Harry Dry22:50.
  • A tourist walking past a cafe needs "coffee and pastry equals 5 lbs", not a huge menu of croissants Harry Dry22:50.
  • Snapchat spent 7 million pounds on a Super Bowl ad aimed at an average viewer age of 39, because they did not think about who they were talking to Harry Dry22:50.
• Give up on pleasing everyone. Trying to please everyone satisfies no one.
  • Billions stampede for the exits, but a dozen come down from the cheap seats to the front row. Write for them Paul Harding1:00:28.
  • Going broad to please everyone is a common mistake, and the result is liked by almost nobody Neil Strauss1:06:11.
  • Perell's podcast is deliberately too geeky about craft for most listeners and adored by the few who want it Jerry Seinfeld39:53.
  • Online you compete with every writer in the world. Neil Cybart owns a smaller pond by writing about Apple every day Ben Thompson1:25:41.
• Decide whether you are writing for art or for a wide readership. Neither is wrong, but being unclear about which one you are hurts David Shelley26:45.
  • Pick your aim honestly before you start, because it decides how you should write.
  • Ronald Firbank privately printed experimental novels in the 1920s knowing there was no market. James Patterson wants the widest number of people to enjoy storytelling.
• Say who you are not writing for. Naming the reader frees you to write with force Paul Millerd11:28.
  • After a scathing email, Millerd began a defensive reply, saw it was a letter to himself, and turned it into a post for unconventional weirdos, not people thriving on the default path.
  • In the next two years his curiosity conversations went from one a month to a couple a week.

2.2 Start with yourself, then bridge to them

You are the one reader you know, so begin there and then make the piece usable for others.

• Write what you would want to read. Your own interest is a real signal.
  • You are the only reader you will ever know, so be honest about the book you want to read and hope it matches what others want Matt Haig26:21.
  • Tim Urban makes what he would most want someone to send him. If he is bored, confused or finds something bad, he changes it Tim Urban1:10:24.
  • The Cultural Tutor wrote a thread on why we wear ties because he was sitting there wearing one and wanted to know The Cultural Tutor1:01:17.
  • Chamath Palihapitiya writes his annual letter for himself, since he is the only guaranteed rereader. That gives it a clear point, though most readers finish only 10 to 20% Chamath Palihapitiya4:27.
• Then shape the draft so others can use it. A first draft for yourself is not yet for the reader.
  • Ryan of AJR thinks only about his own feeling in the first draft, then crafts it so people will not dismiss it as a narcissistic exercise Jack and Ryan of AJR1:18:30.
  • Ask how what you want to say might fit into somebody else's life. Boring talkers stop asking Alain de Botton1:10:49.
  • A friend told de Botton he was writing a book his academic father and his rural Swiss nanny could both enjoy Alain de Botton1:10:49.
  • Counterpoint: guessing only what people like makes a boring artist, and "I make art only for myself" can be dangerous Jack and Ryan of AJR1:18:30.
• If your idea is far from their interests, build a bridge. You cannot change what people already care about.
  • Bold ideas are fine, but they need a receptor to attach to. Build a bridge, like an API, between where you are and where they are Lulu Cheng Meservey24:14.
  • Treat the message as medicine and choose the candy coating. Then show up where that audience gets its information Lulu Cheng Meservey26:00.
  • A writing show framed around AI works because everyone already asks how to use AI for writing. Stripe went after developers on Hacker News Lulu Cheng Meservey26:00.
  • Kamala Harris told national defense voters that recruits need a 10th grade reading level for the army field manual, so education feeds the army Lulu Cheng Meservey24:14.

2.3 Put a face on the reader

A named person in your head keeps you out of performance and lets you hear how the words land.

• Picture a real person with a face. A faceless audience pulls you into stiff teacher voice.
  • Brie Wolfson imagines a real person across the table, often Stewart Brand, and asks whether he would get a twinkle in his eye or go to sleep Brie Wolfson33:50.
  • Writing to an abstract audience tends to produce teacher voice. Ask what question you are answering and what you are helping the reader see Brie Wolfson37:50.
  • Friends who are brilliant speakers send her timid, fact-heavy writing with no humanity until they picture a person Brie Wolfson33:50.
  • Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet and Stegner's Angle of Repose show how intimate writing to one person can be Brie Wolfson37:50.
• Write the draft as a message to a friend. It loosens the performance.
  • Perell challenged Steph Smith to write her next piece as a private email to him and decide later whether to publish Steph Smith46:25.
  • Tim Ferriss scrapped his draft of The 4-Hour Workweek, opened a Gmail compose window, and wrote the first tens of thousands of words as if emailing a friend Ali Abdaal17:56.
  • Abdaal's investing explanation for his friend was 90% done before it became a video Ali Abdaal13:46.
  • Letters from the 17th to 19th centuries have lasted because they lack performativeness Steph Smith46:25.
  • Sahil Bloom began a monthly email to about ten family and friends, sent it for more than five years, and it grew to about 2,000 readers Sahil Bloom2:35.
• Pick a reader who changes how you write. The right imagined person acts as an editor or removes fear.
  • Tyler Cowen thinks "Alex is going to read that", so he makes the text simpler and clearer Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok10:47.
  • Scott Galloway writes as if his sons at 40 are the only audience, which removes the fear of strangers' approval Scott Galloway17:51.
  • When Tim Urban drifts into writing for the snootiest critic, he remembers the friends in his head who read him on Twitter Tim Urban15:35.
  • Urban caught himself explaining a concept for his book, wrote it as a tweet to subscribers, and found the tweet version better Tim Urban15:35.
  • Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations privately, addressing himself as "you". It has lasted 2,000 years Ryan Holiday36:36.
• Picture one distracted reader in one moment. Real readers are half-attentive.
  • Readers scroll on the bus or while waiting for a late friend, brain half on. Understand your own state in that setting and write for the person in it Shaan Puri47:15.
  • 119,000 impressions are 119,000 individual people in 119,000 separate moments Shaan Puri47:15.

2.4 Decide what the reader needs from you

The reader spends time and attention, so decide what they get in return before you write.

• Name the promise you are making. Pink asks this before any project Daniel Pink49:31.
  • A reader spends about $25 and nine hours, so he wants them to finish feeling the time was well spent. A nonfiction writer should be useful, so readers do different things and not only think differently.
  • He applies the same promise to his plays, hoping audiences approach their kids and co-workers a little differently.
• Name the job the reader hires you for. People read because they have a job they want done Lenny Rachitsky1:11:03.
  • Pick the job, such as getting better at a career, learning to make money or being entertained, then do it better than anything else. Treat reader questions as a puzzle board to fill in one by one.
  • Newsletters that just pontificate on ideas face a far higher bar than ones that solve a specific job.
• Define where the reader is and where you want them. You cannot start a race in the middle Harry Dry21:41.
  • Treat the reader's current attitude as point A and the desired attitude as point B, like two telephone poles. Your job is to string the wire.
  • Meservey's planning doc has four headings: the business objective, who must take what action, what they must believe, and where they already spend their attention Lulu Cheng Meservey1:00:39.
• Lead with what the reader gets, not your excitement. Nobody cares about your passion, only how it improves their life Lulu Cheng Meservey1:00:39.
  • Put your commercial interest aside and ask what you could say that makes the audience feel understood. Link back to the company later Lulu Cheng Meservey55:14.
  • Keep the reader's problem and benefit at the center of an announcement. Lines like "I've always wanted to do this and I'm excited to announce" forget to say why it matters to them Lulu Cheng Meservey1:08:06.
  • Readers use your honest reflections to see themselves. If you posture to look good, they get almost no insight Tucker Max42:08.
  • Apple's old think different era made people feel understood, unlike ads that push features Apple wants used Lulu Cheng Meservey55:14.

2.5 Set the level, tone and references

Know what the reader already knows, then pitch every explanation, joke and reference at that distance.

• Assume the reader is smart and aim a little above them. Most readers are not slow, and recaps waste their time.
  • Kelly told Wired writers they were writing to him and had to amaze him. Explain enough, but not everything Kevin Kelly10:25.
  • Pinker writes for people who are intellectually curious and have some education. His editor and friends in other fields stand in for that reader Steven Pinker5:47.
  • Johnny Harris says "I know you're smart, you can get this, but you may not know about this, let me show you". Readers who pretend to know a reference stop being curious Johnny Harris56:35.
  • He contrasts this with journalists who use jargon to impress peers instead of the audience Johnny Harris56:35.
• Test the draft on a stand-in reader. Someone who gets bored or confused shows you what to fix.
  • Johann Hari tells his story aloud to a 12-year-old and records it. A 12-year-old can follow almost anything but gets bored fast, so you see what to cut Johann Hari25:42.
  • Dana Gioia pictures a bright teenager who knows little, a fellow writer who knows too much, and someone in between. He asks what could interest all three Dana Gioia15:06.
  • Hari can tell the story of Chino, the former crack dealer, in 15 minutes this way Johann Hari25:42.
  • Gioia will spend a whole day on one paragraph testing which examples to include Dana Gioia15:06.
• Say the reader's doubt out loud. It builds trust and shows you are paying attention to them.
  • Shaan Puri imagines what the reader is thinking at that point and says it, such as "I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong" Shaan Puri1:08:36.
  • Jon Collins writes BibleProject scripts as a dialogue with Tim Mackie, using the questions he really had while learning. The beginner voices the doubt the viewer is too embarrassed to say Tim Mackie and Jon Collins1:06:06.
  • Susan Orlean does not collect orchids and does not even like Florida, yet wrote The Orchid Thief by going through the discovery first as the reader's proxy Susan Orlean14:02.
• Check every reference, joke and form against what this reader knows. A mismatch kills it.
  • Rule number one is know your audience: who they are, what they grew up with and what patterns they think in Robert Mac12:58.
  • Pitch each joke at the right distance. Too near impresses no one, and too far kills the horse Andrew Hunter Murray46:25.
  • Even your pitch should carry the tone. An irreverent comedy needs an irreverent outline Noah Hawley31:07.
  • For kids, make characters older than your readers and match density to age Tish Rabe12:05.
  • Hawley pitched a 70s Bill Murray style crime story by rambling about how he might segue into the pitch, and the executives felt the tone first Noah Hawley31:07.
  • Rabe uses a line or less a page for toddlers and up to eight lines for older readers Tish Rabe12:05.
  • Taylor Tomlinson studies what people see when she walks on stage. She says her round face and Midwestern daughter vibe decide which edgy jokes she can pull off Taylor Tomlinson7:04.

2.6 Revise from the reader's seat

Reread the draft as that reader and cut what they would skip, resent or not understand.

• Ask who is reading each word and how it will land. Johnny Harris calls empathy with the viewer his most important sensibility Johnny Harris21:21.
  • He wrestled over adding "husband to 40 wives" to a sentence about Joseph Smith. It is a familiar anti-Mormon trope, but he judged most of the audience would find it intriguing.
• Cut what bores them, even if it happened to you. Learn the difference between your interesting ideas and your merely lived ones David Sedaris1:09:00.
  • A 12 hour delay at O'Hare feels like the end of the world to you and is boring to everyone else.
  • Remember what it is like to read. Patrick Radden Keefe asks whether he would enjoy getting the email he is sending Patrick Radden Keefe1:04:44.
  • He gets pitches of 5,000 words for The New Yorker. An editor receives a hundred emails a day, so he says to do it in three tight paragraphs Patrick Radden Keefe1:04:44.
• Cut the complaint and the self-regard. Keep your loyalty to the reader Jonathan Franzen12:45.
  • Trauma dumping is focused on the self and carries a flavor of complaint, which is incompatible with the bond he wants.
  • In an apology, show you are at least as bothered as the reader, but do not overshoot or they will start comforting you Lulu Cheng Meservey1:16:39.
  • A book full of complainers can still work if the reader is invited to laugh at them, as in Halle Butler's Banal Nightmare.
• Check the draft where the reader will see it. Layout changes how copy lands.
  • Harry Dry writes his newsletter in ConvertKit and ads in Figma. He does not trust a Google Doc, where a line might spill to three lines once pasted Harry Dry25:09.
  • Ogilvy advised testing a billboard against seven other ads around it, not alone in Photoshop Harry Dry25:09.

2.7 What the books say

Before you write for one reader, the books say to work out where that reader stands on the problem, because that decides how you open.

• Find out whether your reader has already proposed or tried a solution. Barbara Minto, The Minto Pyramid Principle
  • Place the reader in one of seven positions, such as no solution, a solution they doubt, one they cannot implement, one that failed, or several options. Each position has its own standard Situation, Complication and Question.
  • Get this wrong and both your introduction and your reasoning come out muddled.
• Start from what the reader has already done, and use it as the Complication. Barbara Minto, The Minto Pyramid Principle
  • In the book's example, Jackson Foods changed its terms of trade to raise order sizes. It made little difference, so the failed fix became the Complication.

2.8 Where writers disagree

Writers split on whether to study the market, how many readers to hold in mind, and how wide to aim.

• Ignore the market, or study it. It depends on whether your goal is a wide readership.
  • Haig says researching the market is how you fail to be commercial Matt Haig25:05.
  • Shelley says a writer after the widest readership should read heavily in the genre, study bestseller lists and covers, and read reader reviews David Shelley27:25.
  • Lee Child did a lot of research and chose his agent because the agent was good at launching big commercial authors David Shelley27:25.
  • A middle path: learn why people come to a genre and what experience they want, then give it to them Dana Gioia3:10:26.
• Follow your readers, or teach them to like your work. Audience signals help, but they can also steer you away from yourself.
  • Ava Huang is informed by what resonates, but she also makes clear what is part of her work even if it is not the most popular Ava Huang42:00.
  • If you only follow the audience, you end up making things other people like and you don't Ava Huang42:00.
• Hold one reader, or two or three. One reader gives intimacy, and several levels give reach.
  • Packy McCormick says writing for one person is more likely to reach the stadium Packy McCormick1:05:04.
  • Lee Child describes readership as rings of Saturn: habitual readers at the center and casual readers at the edge. His answer is a style experienced readers enjoy and casual readers can follow Lee Child21:02.
  • Ryan Holiday argues the most specific writing can be the most universal Ryan Holiday36:36.
• Hide the obscure reference, or drop it. A reference that needs background knowledge dies when the reader lacks it.
  • Ted Gioia tucks an arcane allusion into a throwaway phrase so the surface stays plain, and the rare reader who gets it is delighted Ted Gioia22:38.
  • He wrote that music awoke him from his dogmatic slumber, Kant's phrase about Hume, and figures one reader in a thousand catches it Ted Gioia22:38.
• Aim for reach, or for the few who matter. Small audiences can do real work.
  • A 30-minute Loom that 45 people finish saved those 45 from a meeting Sam Corcos1:09:07.
  • For email, appealing a little to a ton of people does not work. A small list that cares will forward your emails, and some writers prune their lists on purpose Lulu Cheng Meservey42:45.
  • Applicants cite company podcasts that only about 100 people heard Sam Corcos1:09:07.