This article brings together data from two complementary studies of the teaching of writing in Australia. Mobilising motifs of the hum and the hive to think together how our projects resonate, the authors highlight a key concern that emerges across both studies: the absence of real-world audiences for student writing in contemporary pedagogy. Specifically, we refer to the limited extent to which teachers have freedom to craft writing opportunities with "real" audiences through their chosen or conscripted pedagogies. Responding to this, and taking into account the impacts of both the pandemic and the rise of generative AI, we offer a manifesto for an audience-focused approach to writing that foregrounds resilience, agency and sociality. This manifesto offers an alternative and holistic approach for developing students as communicators, in a lively, humming world of words, feelings and people.