Comment by BeetleB
15 days ago
> Keeping the reader glued to the screen is not the primary goal of writing.
This is common advice in English classes and it predates the World Wide Web (and likely the Internet).
Hook them in the first few sentences or lose them.
And yes, of course, it does depend on who the intended audience is. You wouldn't do it in The New Yorker.
> You don't write for the reader. You write for yourself first. Readers sometimes, just happen to appreciate it about as much you do.
Depends very much on the medium. It's definitely not true that most professional writing is written for the author's sake. It is for an audience. Read books on writing and you'll often find the advice to cut out things if they won't interest the reader - no matter how valuable it is to you.
I myself struggle with this. Some years ago, I took a trip to my childhood home in another country after being separated for decades. Almost none of my friends from the time have been there in decades either. I made notes during the trip, and when I got back I started writing what I saw, and shared it with my friends who grew up with me. How various neighborhoods have changed. Anecdotes from my childhood tied to those places. And a lot more.
I got 30% done, and then decided to hold off sharing till I'd written the whole thing. I now have a first draft. It's the size of a proper book. It contains a lot of stuff that is of value to me, but likely not to most of the (small) audience. I know if I share it with them, chances are high no one will read it.
On the one hand, the stuff I wrote is highly valuable to me - it's become an unintentional memoir. But on the other hand, I do want to share quite a bit with my friends, and I know they'll value it if they actually read it.
I'll either have to cut a lot out, or write two versions (impractical).
The point being that even when you have a very limited audience, it is important to care about them and sacrifice your needs to an extent.
Never cut out stuff that you felt important to include. Just forget the reader. The content you write should reflect you, not the reader. It's your expression. Don't make it a sales pitch, or a reflection of average reader's taste.
I get scared when an author is talking to me, the reader. I stop reading when they pretend to be aware of my context. Things like "So you are reading this book because you want to learn about AI" sounds very cheap.
Also I hate when the actors on TV suddenly start talking to the viewer about what they did and why did etc. Disgusting.
Audience want to observe the performers, not converse with them. Your best performance comes out when you are not much aware of the audience. Like a child playing, ignoring people around.
> The content you write should reflect you, not the reader.
It's not a binary proposition. One can write for both, as long as they're willing to compromise. I'd rather something be 80% good and have an audience than 100% good with no audience.
Why write if no one will read? I have no idea if even I will read it - I already "read" it while writing it. Maybe in 20 years I'll revisit? I don't know.
> I get scared when an author is talking to me, the reader.
> Also I hate when the actors on TV suddenly start talking to the viewer about what they did and why did etc. Disgusting.
That's your quirk. Don't assume others have the same preferences as you.
> Things like "So you are reading this book because you want to learn about AI" sounds very cheap.
I don't see anyone advocating writing like this.
In general, most writers disagree with you. I take it you've not heard of "Kill your darlings"?
Things like "kill your darlings" becomes a doctrine purely because of business goals, not artistic goals. It asks you to erase what you like, so that you can sell it. There is nothing visionary or prophecy-like wisdom in that. It's pure selling, which is considered divine by the capitalist western cultures.