Teachers' role as primary audience has important implications for writing instruction. Teachers represent a combination of two audiences: a literal audience--a specific person or group of people implied in a writing assignment--and an ideal audience shaped by the writers themselves. As these two general types of audiences imply, writers both create and are created by their audience. Their choice of genre also reflects the internal and external pressures at work during the writing process. By providing direction in writing assignments and offering help in invention and revision, teachers can aid students in establishing a hypothetical dialogue with the audience. When teachers ask questions that help students to define their audience, for example, they ensure more successful revisions of papers. In helping to define what are acceptable and significant audiences, teachers determine how engaging students' writing will be. (MM)