Monday, February 1, 2010

Writer?

I am not a writer. What we have said of writing so far involves primarily working to please your audience. Why should I have to do that? If I have some practical need to write, some urgent thing to communicate, should I be punished because the reader is fickle and shallow? If I am writing for the sake of writing, wouldn't it be better to produce something true, so that those people whose thoughts resonate with mine will appreciate it? Or should I alter my original work, so I can sell more copies to society's lowest common denominator, or to the professor who doesn't share my opinions? Without the ability to write freely, I'd rather keep my thoughts to myself.
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1 comment:

  1. Phil6:15 PM EST

    You bring up a good point, actually. I do think that a writer should attempt to make his ideas CLEAR to readers, but that certainly doesn't mean empty pandering. I've only said you need to CONSIDER your audience. You don't always have to "please" them : )

    As I've said, it depends on your PURPOSE as well. It might even be in your best interest to consciously alienate an audience, depending on the situation.

    Also, I'm talking primarily about academic writing, and audience awareness is, as you point out, less relevant to personal/expressive writing. That said, an audience of one (the writer himself) is still an audience. I've actually given this quite a bit of thought, believe it or not.

    http://overlyactivebrain.blogspot.com/2006/03/monologue.html

    Your opinions are welcome here, Doug. Voices of dissent are very important. But...this is a class...so there are certain contextual constraints.

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