A writer’s persona communicates to their audience who they are. It’s not only a chance to give writing a little personality, it is also an opportunity for writers to connect to readers by allowing them to imagine the person who wrote the text they’re now reading (or the character narrating that text). A writer’s persona doesn’t need to encompass every single aspect of who they are as a person—rather, it’s a way of presenting a coherent identity to their readers through their language. 

Consider how writers already establish different personas in everyday writing activities like texting and posting on social media. The way that someone texts their friends about going out for a party is likely different than how they text their grandmother about Thanksgiving dinner plans. Similarly, different social media platforms allow people to curate different personas with carefully selected posts and reposts of texts, images, videos, and gifs. For example, someone’s private Facebook account might express a different personality than the public LinkedIn account they use for work. Similarly, writers choose what persona to craft based on their goals and audience.