TRANSCRIPT:
How to Fictionalize Your Audience
Inside Creative Writing Episode 1

Welcome to the InsideCreativeWriting.com podcast, the weekly discussion of craft and technique for writers of fiction and creative nonfiction. And now, here's your host, writer and educator, Brad Reed.

Here we go, episode one: "Fictionalizing Your Audience"—how we can be intentional about engaging our readers and drawing them into our stories by giving them a role to play.

Welcome to the new podcast. This is episode one. If you haven't had a chance, I invite you to check out the prologue to the show. I uploaded it at the same time as this episode, so you'll find it on our website at InsideCreativeWriting.com. Take a listen to find out more about who I am and what we've got planned for the show.

But today, we're going to jump right into a subject I'm really passionate about. It's something I've studied and researched a lot over the last couple of months, and it has really changed the way I approach my writing. I think it might do the same for you. It’s all about how we approach our audience in our writing—how we engage our readers and involve them in the stories we're telling.

To set up this conversation, I want to step back and look at the history of how we’ve been taught to approach our audience. This goes back to our earliest days in education—elementary school, middle school, and high school. It's important to understand how we were programmed in those early years to think about our audience so we can recognize how we're doing it today. I’ll keep this brief, as I know history lessons aren’t always the most entertaining, but I think you'll find this fascinating.

Let me start by asking: Which one are you? Are you a "current traditional" writer, or are you an "expressivist" writer? If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, they’ve defined how writing has been taught in schools for decades. Understanding which approach aligns with you is important, so let me explain both.

First, there’s the current traditional approach. This is the formulaic method of writing—the one that gave birth to the much-maligned five-paragraph essay you probably remember from school. I won’t dive too deeply into this teaching methodology, but I do want to talk about how it addresses the audience. Essentially, it teaches that if you approach writing with the correct form and elements, your audience will automatically be effectively addressed.

For example, a lot of books on screenwriting still reflect this current traditional approach. They emphasize formula—three-act structure, inciting events, rising and falling action, and so on. The assumption is that following these rules will ensure audience engagement. While this method acknowledges the artistry of writing, it places heavy emphasis on formula.

On the other hand, the expressivist approach is a reaction against the current traditional model. Expressivists say, "Ignore your audience. Don’t think about them when you sit down to write." Instead, they emphasize writing something true and authentic in your own voice, believing that authenticity will naturally connect with the audience.

Many of us have had teachers or mentors from both camps, and we’ve likely been influenced by both. But here’s the problem: Both approaches view the audience as passive. In the current traditional model, the audience responds to the formula. In the expressivist model, the audience responds only to the writer's authenticity. In both cases, the audience has no active role.

Have you ever picked up a book and felt disconnected from it, but then picked up another and been completely drawn in? That’s what we’re talking about today—engaging readers by giving them an active role in the story. This idea comes from an article by Walter J. Ong, "The Writer’s Audience Is Always a Fiction," published in 1975. If you haven’t read it, I’ll try to find a link and include it in the show notes at InsideCreativeWriting.com.

Ong argues that writers must imagine their audience as a fiction when they write. We construct an idea of who they are—age, gender, political or social perspectives—and write to that imagined audience. But Ong takes this further, suggesting that readers also fictionalize themselves. This may sound abstract, but it’s key to drawing readers into our stories. Let’s look at three ways we can intentionally help our readers fictionalize themselves.

The first technique is the use of frame stories. A frame story places readers within the story by giving them a role to play. Take Heart of Darkness, for example. We’re not just readers; we become Marlow’s shipmates on the Nellie, sitting with him as he recounts his journey. Another great example is The Princess Bride. The frame story of the sick boy being read to by his grandfather turns us into that child, experiencing the tale with fresh wonder.

The second technique is using limited description. For instance, Ernest Hemingway’s sparse style in A Farewell to Arms invites readers to fill in the blanks. The first line, “In the late summer of that year, we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains,” leaves much unsaid. We don’t know which year, river, or mountains, but this lack of detail allows us to step into the story ourselves. Over-description, by contrast, can alienate readers, reminding them they’re outsiders.

The third technique involves unexplained terminology. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is an excellent example. He uses terms like "SOPs," "RTO," and "KIA" without explanation, immersing readers in the world of his characters. This approach can be risky, but it often compels readers to fictionalize themselves as insiders who understand the lingo.

Here’s the takeaway: Your readers will fictionalize themselves—it’s not a question of if but how. By being intentional, we can draw them into our stories as active participants.

To close, I’ll share a quote from John Steinbeck’s East of Eden: “If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. A great and lasting story is about everyone or it will not last. The strange and foreign is not interesting, only the deeply personal and familiar.” Let that resonate as you think about how to engage your readers.

This week’s challenge: Look at the first few pages of your current project and ask yourself, "How am I asking my readers to fictionalize themselves?" Try using frame stories, limited description, or unexplained terminology to intentionally draw them in.

Next week, we’ll discuss “How to Keep Your Characters Alive”—not in terms of plot, but in creating a sense of reality and authenticity. Until then, keep writing. The best way to improve your craft is to get words on the page.

Let’s make progress together, and I’ll see you next week.