An argument against the prime demographic

“Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death, and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In your writing, your audience is one single reader.”
–John Steinbeck

When you write, you don’t have an audience. You have “one single reader” as John Steinbeck described in a 1962 letter. This is because your work is not enjoyed by an audience; you don’t have to project to the back of the room, or make a performance accessible for young and old alike. If you write, your work will be read by dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of individuals. Singular individuals will interpret and imagine your work in their own way. 

This is not to say there is no wisdom in understanding groups of people to sell your work to. It is to say that thinking of that group while you write is detrimental to your writing. 

When you write, you can whisper. You can confess. You can be paradoxical and open and interesting. Individuals can engage with that sort of thing. Get the generalized audience and the prime demographic out of your mind. Get one specific person in your mind, and write tot them.