A side of hot tips: read the room

Just as you likely wouldn’t tell your grandfather the detailed ins-and-outs of your love life (pun intended), you probably wouldn’t drop a bunch of your saltiest swear words into the copy you’d write for a conservative client. Unless, of course, dirty language has been requested in the brief, in which case – %*&$ yeh!

With any type of writing, no matter the purpose, knowing your audience is imperative. A little research into your intended reader (or readers) will go a long way – be it a personalised letter or an Instagram post likely to be read by many.

Part of your job as the writer is to consider the make-up (things like the reading level, age, gender and culture) of the person or people you’re writing for, or those who may come across your writing.

That said, if you’re writing to intentionally offend as many people as possible, forget what you just read.

A simple exercise:

Imagine you’re at a wedding and you’re reading your words to a room filled with both your intended listener but also a couple of tables of people you weren’t expecting to turn up. If you’re seeing horrified faces from every table at the reception and the bride is questioning why she invited you in the first place and how you even stayed friends after high school, you might want to revisit your work.

If you’re ever in doubt about the suitability of your writing for your audience, allow a trusted confidant to provide a second opinion.