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know—so that you will be sure to address those issues when you write. It may be a good
idea to also state exactly what you want to explain to that audience, or to inform them
of, or to persuade them about.
Writing at Work
Many of the documents you produce at work target a particular audience for a particular
purpose. You may find that it is highly advantageous to know as much as you can about
your target audience and to prepare your message to reach that audience, even if the
audience is a coworker or your boss. Menu language is a common example. Descriptions
like “organic romaine” and “free-range chicken” are intended to appeal to a certain type
of customer though perhaps not to the same customer who craves a thick steak.
Similarly, mail-order companies research the demographics of the people who buy their
merchandise. Successful vendors customize product descriptions in catalogs to appeal to
their buyers’ tastes. For example, the product descriptions in a skateboarder catalog will
differ from the descriptions in a clothing catalog for mature adults.
Exercise 1
Using the topic for the essay that you outlined in Section 7.2 "Outlining", describe your
purpose and your audience as specifically as you can. Use your own sheet of paper to
record your responses. Then keep these responses near you during future stages of the
writing process.
My purpose: ____
My audience: ____
Setting Goals for Your First Draft
A draft is a complete version of a piece of writing, but it is not the final version. The step
in the writing process after drafting, as you may remember, is revising. During revising,
you will have the opportunity to make changes to your first draft before you put the
finishing touches on it during the editing and proofreading stage. A first draft gives you
a working version that you can later improve.