Writing Avatar

I was interviewing someone for the podcast recently and I asked who their ideal writing avatar was. But the guest hasn't heard about it before and I thought it was a common knowledge thing. So I thought it would be worth sharing for other who also have not heard about creating your writing avatar. This is something that I was introduced to when I first started the podcast in 2018 and it has popped up in writing circle, marketing plans and business development. Who is your ideal client/student/reader/listener. What do they look like, what are they passionate about, when to they find time to listen to podcasts/read books/hang around on social media?

The idea is that this avatar is who you are writing the story for, speaking your podcast to etc. Then when you are writing/podcasting you can be more personable with the subjects.

Building your own avatar can be something that is highly details, or generalised depending on your need. The more you are putting into it is the amount that you are niching down into the subject. I am not going to go into detail about how to create an avatar, but if you want to know more then I will do another post about the development.

Benefits on having an avatar:

When you are working with an avatar in mind you have a clear understanding of what the Avatar will want from you. This makes it easier when you are looking at creating something new. you can ask yourself, you my Avatar be interested in this? This will impact how you present the material. What you choose to put out and it allows you to feel more focussed and in control of the narrative.

Avatar Shortfalls:

There are positives and negatives to niching down. When you are focussed on something it can close your options to other potential customers/readers. This can be a good thing because if those customers are not interested in your product then it is not designed for them. But it is a shortfall if you are still working on your product.

Final Thoughts:

In my experience having an avatar at the start of my writing/podcasting journey was helpful. But as I have developed and personalised my style more I don't tend to focus on it as much. I think it was a crutch when starting out, but you don't need it forever.

Had you heard of using an Avatar before reading this? Who is your avatar?