One Family, Five Takeaways

Writing for an Audience That Wants Everything

Image credit: Loz James in Canva

My Medium friends can read this over there as well.

A Friday Night Takeaway Lesson

When our Rangemaster broke last week, (yes we're terribly middle class), we were suddenly a family of five with no way to cook dinner.

The solution? Takeaway Friday.

But here’s the twist: no one wanted the same thing.

• My youngest Maryann wanted a Subway

• Middle son Callum argued for Chinese

• Eldest son Ewan chose curry

• My wife Anna settled on a salad bowl

• Whereas I insisted on fish and chips (with an extra sausage and a pot of mushy peas)

We went round in circles for half an hour before agreeing to disagree.

So there I was, standing in town with my iPhone Notes app full of orders, shuttling between five different places, trying to time it all to be ready at once.

And yes, I squeezed in a pint at the pub while I waited (it would be rude not to). 🍺

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You Can’t Please Everyone (Or Can You?)

The experience felt chaotic—but familiar.

Because writing for your target audience is exactly like ordering that takeaway.

You’ve got one group of readers (your “family”), but each person has different tastes, hungers, and expectations.

If you aim for just one meal, you’ll lose the others.

But if you try to serve everyone separately, you’ll burn out.

So how do you write for multiple sub-groups within the same audience without diluting your voice or message?

Nuance & Subtlety Are the Secret Ingredients

The point is—you don’t need to split yourself into five different writers.

What you really need is a hearty helping of nuance and a side order of subtlety.

Like weaving spice into curry or vinegar onto chips, nuance lets you cater to subtle differences while still cooking from the same kitchen.

That’s what turns scattered audiences into loyal ones.

Three Ways to Write for Subtle Differences in Your Audience

Here’s how you can feed all your readers without writing five separate menus:

1. Layer Your Message
   Start broad, then add details that speak to specific reader types. In this article, the broad family story is the base dish, while the added asides (the pint at the pub, the middle‑class Rangemaster joke, the extra sausage - ooh er) are seasonings that various readers will connect with differently.
   
   Think of it as seasoning—everyone eats the same dish, but some notice the paprika more than others.
   

2. Offer Multiple Entry Points
   Yes—within the same article. In this very piece, I’ve done it by mixing a domestic family story with the craft of writing, showing how one anecdote can speak to different readers.
   
   It's not sophisticated but it does the trick: use examples that touch different corners of your audience. One metaphor for the beginner, another for the pro. One story for the dreamer, another for the pragmatist.
   

3. Write With Nuanced Empathy
   Hold the whole table in mind. Speak to their shared hunger (why they’re here at all), then acknowledge their individual tastes along the way.
   
   Readers feel seen when you signal, “Yes, I get your craving too.”

Nuance isn’t dilution—it’s depth.

Back to the Takeaway Run

When I finally carried those bags of food home, everyone got what they wanted. And we ate together at the same table, laughing about the madness of it all.

That’s the model for writing in the age of AI: one voice, one table, one meal—but seasoned with enough nuance that everyone feels it was subtlety made for them.

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