defaults/project-template/AUDIENCE.md

# AUDIENCE.md

Who are we writing for, and what might draw them into the writing?

Use this optional guide for durable audience knowledge. Keep sentence sound in `VOICE.md` and the writing's promises, argument, evidence, structure, and readiness standards in `STYLE.md`. The current assignment's specific audience takes precedence over these defaults.

Start with a few supported observations. Leave unknowns open; do not invent a persona to fill the template. If several publications share a maintained audience guide, link to that source from their instructions instead of duplicating it here.

## Scope

- **Applies to:** [Publication, project, or body of work]
- **Maintained by:** [Person or team, if known]
- **Last reviewed:** [Date]
- **Shared source, if applicable:** [Link; follow it rather than maintaining a second profile]

## Readers And Situations

Begin with a short reader portrait in plain prose: their situation, what draws them to this subject, and the tension or possibility they face. Make it useful to a writer scanning the guide and an agent choosing an explanation or example.

- Who is likely to encounter this writing, and in what circumstances?
- What are they doing, questioning, experiencing, or trying to understand?
- Which differences between readers change the explanation or examples?

Describe relevant situations rather than relying only on job titles or demographics.

## Knowledge And Assumptions

- What knowledge or experience can the writing reasonably assume?
- What concepts or context need explaining?
- What access, resources, beliefs, or experiences must not be assumed?

## Reader Wants And Needs

A **want** is an outcome or experience a reader may seek. A **need** is the understanding, support, or condition that may help them reach it. Either can be explicit or inferred; label the basis. Do not treat an inferred need as superior knowledge of the reader's motives.

| The reader may want… | What may help them get there | What the writing can offer | Basis or uncertainty |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Outcome, question, possibility, or pleasure] | [Enabling knowledge, experience, or support] | [Credible contribution of this writing] | [Evidence / positioning / writer intent / inference, with source] |

Do not require personal identification, a practical benefit, or an identity change. This guide helps the writer find a connection with readers; the particular piece supplies the material that engages a want.

## The Reader's Hero's Journey

Describe a possible movement in the reader's experience when it helps explain the audience. Treat this as an editorial model, not a claim that every reader follows the same sequence or that every article needs a transformation arc. Leave unsupported stages open.

| Part of the journey | What to understand about the reader |
|---|---|
| Starting world | Their situation, existing competence, and unresolved question |
| Call | The possibility, desire, or problem that draws them forward |
| Obstacle or hesitation | The actual constraints, uncertainty, or resistance they face |
| Guide and companions | What help they seek, whom they trust, and the role the writing can earn |
| First step and trials | What they might explore or attempt, and what could complicate it |
| Change and return | What they might understand, experience, do, or contribute afterward |

The reader keeps agency. Do not invent trauma, fear, deficiency, or an aspirational identity to complete a story. Readers can enter at different points; curiosity and pleasure can be sufficient reasons to read. Keep the basis and uncertainty of this model with it.

## Resistance And Trust

- What has made readers skeptical, confused, bored, or feel excluded?
- What evidence or explanation helps them assess a claim?
- Which observations apply only to a specific situation or subgroup?

## Using This Guide

**For the writer:** Scan the portrait, wants and needs, and journey. Choose only the connection your material supports.

**For the agent:** Apply the assignment's audience first. Connect a specific detail, tension, question, or possibility to a plausible want; identify what this piece can credibly offer. Use that connection to choose an explanation, example, evidence, hook, or promise. Label inferred needs and journey stages in editorial notes, and keep article standards in `STYLE.md` and sentence sound in `VOICE.md`.

When useful, keep a short note with the assignment: **Reader situation → want → enabling need → what this piece offers → basis or uncertainty.** Add a journey stage only if it changes a writing decision. Do not force this note or the journey into the finished prose.

## Evidence And Open Questions

| Observation or hypothesis | Basis and source | Date | Limits or open question |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Specific audience observation] | [Reader feedback / research / positioning / writer instruction / editorial inference, with link or provenance] | [Date] | [What is unverified or does not generalize] |

Positioning describes an intended relationship; it does not prove reader behavior. Preserve disagreement and exact reader language when available. Save a new inference as a hypothesis only when the writer authorizes it; do not promote one reaction into a universal rule.