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Toby Fulwiler’s “The Role of Audience” made me see how greatly audience affects my writing, even when I don’t consciously think of it. His explanation of the difference between speaking and writing was what really made it clear that writing is not just an effort to put your thoughts on paper, but to make it coherent and relatable for others to read. Writing without a purpose is meaningless, honestly. It’s our way of expressing our ideas, opinions, and knowledge to the public, whoever that may be, so audience is always going to be the main objective. I never really thought about it, but getting my point across is extremely difficult when all I have to work with are the words. I can’t show body language, change the tone of my voice, or, most importantly, respond to the other person’s reactions when I’m sitting alone in front of your computer, so imagining what the reader is thinking while I’m trying to make my point clear is definitely the most crucial, and most difficult part of writing. To make this already uphill circumstance even more challenging, you have to consider multiple audiences when writing. Tone, style, and wording are especially crucial with media and advertisements, because their sole objective is to communicate to the public. An ad for Malibu Barbie is quite different from an ad for Ford pickup trucks, because different things appeal to 6-year-old girls and middle-aged men. Overall, writing a research paper and persuading someone to buy a product both have the same objective; to get a point across to the viewer. Considering audience is just a technique in writing that takes practice, and it’s what makes your writing effective.