This is a fantastic exercise for establishing a sense of deep connection to a particular

reader. With this exercise you will build up the image of your IDEAL reader and then
inhabit and write from this Ideal Reader's point of view. This playsheet builds the ideal
reader for you.**

The key to making this work is the amount of DETAIL and the VIVIDNESS that the
avatar is constructed in. Believe me, with writing, as in meditation and as in many other
things, it's the detail that really cements the object in attention and memory, that makes it
feel tangible and real.

This vividness helps you feel a connection that will inspire your writing from Inquiry-
Based Outlines: you imagine a real living, breathing conversation that motivates and
directs your writing. And it makes everything else about writing easier too.

In doing this exercise some may run up against a few resistances as well-- maybe it
will be hard to take on the worries of the reader or it will feel wierd to dream big about
their hopes for the world. You need to use your imagination and playfulness to do this
exercise, and you might find that too touchy-feely and find yourself too stiff to play.
That's a sign that you need to do this! This is shaking things loose for your creative spirit!

Once you have built up your Ideal Reader Avatar, you will be able to fend off the
imaginary voices of critics, critical mentors and other hostiles-- people who appear in your
thoughts, maybe as you write, who step in where there is an absence of connection to the
ideal audience. Your avatar will help you stay the course, make decisions easier and light
the way to your finished text. LET'S GET STARTED!

** While there are many possible applications of this exercise-- and feel free to play with it-- for our
intended purpose it works best if this person realistically could find their way to the specific text you
are writing and would be an ideal reader for it. If some other ideal reader comes up, who would not
read such a piece, well... you may just have to write something else for them sometime!

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 INQUIRY OUTLINE
Ideal Reader Avatar

Create Your Ideal Reader Avatar

Picture your ideal audience. What tends to be similar about them? Make a list all
the prominent traits that could be meaningful. List out demographics like age,
geographic locations, education, disciplines, gender, etc. And subjective details
like beliefs, politics, values, tastes, lifestyle, interests, etc.

Now pick out and assemble traits from above that can fit the profile of one single
individual person in as much detail as possible. This is to zero in on who will
become your Ideal Reader Avatar.

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Freewrite:
Now picture this person. See them in front of you, in a typical place, doing typical
things. And describe this person in detail. The aim here is to know how they feel,
how they think, how they speak. In essence, describe this person in detail and let
it rip here: whatever comes to mind. We will iron-out more details later.

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Fill out some of your Ideal Reader's info below, as seems appropriate. Remember the point of the
playsheet is to drill down and be specific, so don't worry about excluding people. And remember
that not everything about a person is related to what they might read.
ame\

Ƃge/Gender\

Lives in/at\

Identifies as (ethnicity, nationality, doesn't, etc.):

Marital Status/Sexual Orientation/Names of Children and Partner­ˆv>˜Þ®

*osition/Occupation\

Core beliefs:

Political orientation:

Favorite books\

Favorite films and music\

Journals read\

Online sites visited often\

Google searches performed recently\

Conferences/Gatherings attended\

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Favorite fun things to do:

Indulgences indulged in:

What discipline is the reader in?

What authors and schools of thought followed?

Who, in all the world, do they admire the most?

Most wished-for fantasy for how their own writing would look:

Pet Peeves about their profession:

Favorite qualities to find in reading material:

What else comes to mind about this person's Likes, Interests, and.... Passions?

Great! Now take a very short moment to say this person's name in your head and picture
them again in your mind, in a typical place, eagerly and happily reading your work.

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 Now it's time to download your awareness into the Ideal Reader Avatar. So take off
their tinfoil helmet, and press send.

Slip into their shoes, and see as they see. You ARE this person. You feel what they feel
and you know their emotions. Write for a short time about what it's like:

What are they feeling right as they look at your piece, and as they are choosing to read
it from among all their other options, and as they begin to read this work? What emotions
are there? What they are saying to themselves, too? What thoughts? What words and
phrases are appearing in their interior voice exactly in those first moments?

Remember this is your IDEAL reader so they are perfectly suited to your piece. Take a
few moments and in the first-person voice, write down the feelings you notice and quote
the voices in the head:

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 Time to stay a while in your avatar’s skin. Write in your avatar's journal, in the
first-person. Freewrite in this voice and just say all the things that you can think
to say as a journal entry. So whatever is going on in their life and in their thoughts
might appear here. Be sure to include any private things that they would never
say in public.
It's time to get into character here. This is the heart and the meat of the
whole exercise, right here. It's really important not to skip this particular part and
important that you inhabit the life of your avatar for a while here, to really
cement the bond and connection and take it vividly into yourself.

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 Now traveller be not daunted nor sidelong sway'd! It's time to walk a while in the
shadow side. Go deep and hold no secrets back. Go dark and be ruthless. BE your
avatar now. Remember: don't answer these as yourself but as this person, and give
honest if not gut wrenching answers to the following questions:

What, as your avatar, do you sometimes not admit to yourself and fear might go horribly
wrong for you, your passions and interests, your own development as a person, as a
writer (if applicable) or reader or intellect?

What do you fear might go horribly wrong for the world, in general or in terms of the
specific topic of writing? As your avatar, what's the worst case scenario?

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As you see it as your avatar, what is the most worrisome thing about how others are thinking
about these matters, whether in general or academically or theoretically, and that disturbs
you?

What is it that is going on in the world or in the field or matter of topical interest whose
consequence is the loss of power, control, freedom, justice, well-being and/or influence?

What do you fear will happen if this loss continues or if it get's worse?

As your avatar, how does thinking about all this make your feel now? What
else does it make you think about? Spew!

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Don't stop now! Remain as your Ideal Reader Avatar, and keep on writing. Go to their
wishes, hopes and dreams. Take a walk on the wild side, into fantasy even. Remember
you ARE your avatar here, and don't hesitate at all to really dream big, to dream the
impossible even, like the cow that jumped over the moon. This is about wishes.

Given all of the dark things, what do you, the avatar truly wish was the case instead?

What would be your dream fantasy for how that outcome would actually happen with a
solution, in the world?

As your avatar, what would be your utopian dream about how that outcome would
happen in thought, generally or academically or theoretically?

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Imagine that you, as your avatar, were reading something that revealed, or glimpsed,
the realization of these fantasies. Tell the reader's story about how the text would be
experienced, how it would be laid out, what it would look like, read like and feel like.
Describe the perfect dream fantasy text and reading experience, from your avatar's
perspective:

Imagine your reader avatar after having finished with reading the dream text: with respect
to what in their life and the world do they feel personally more empowered and assured
and free?

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 And nice work! By writing your way into the mind and heart of your Ideal
Reader Avatar you have built an audience bridge that connects you to readers
in compassion and understanding. You'll see the power of such connection
when you write with the Ideal Reader in mind.
You also have done a good amount of writing, practiced your art,
exercised your imagination, and have set up the conditions for insights and
ideas to arise later.

Just call up your Ideal Reader Avatar's name to recall them, or re-read your
entries. Then, when making an Inquiry-Based Outline, imagine it is they who
are asking you the questions. And it is directly to them that you are answering.

And anytime in your writing that there are decisions and choices to be made,
or hesitations, just think of your avatar and write for them. You don't always need
to literally think about which decision they would hope for (though you could do
that). Just recalling the avatar and writing for them adds a good condition into
the mix, which may influence your choices in unknown ways, and that is a very
great thing. Just having performed this writing exercise has already set the avatar
running deep in your veins and all you'll have to do is just set the intention to
write it as though writing directly to your Ideal Reader.

Repeat this exercise for every new piece you create, or whenever you want!

get more writing help at:

academicmuse.org

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