The Presence of Others: What You Need to Know About Audience and Purpose in Writing

I read a lot of blah, blah.

Blah, blah, Blah, Blah, blah.

It’s not real. Who cares?

***

I don’t care about Rick, or his apartment that smells like weed and bleach.

You say you learned a lot by talking to a stripper.

I don’t care because it’s not about the stripper; it’s about YOU, and how YOU talked to a stripper.

YOU want US to know that you: (a) went to a strip club, and isn’t that quite bohemian of you, even brave, as a female in a female strip club?, and (b) that you are open-minded enough to talk to a stripper.

It’s also about how you are such a good listener, you will even listen to a stripper, and what did this stripper teach you, and I quote: “Always beware good looking guys whose apartments smell of weed and bleach.”

That’s the revelation.

That’s a bunch of blah, blah.

***

You’re a writer; it’s not about you. I know that’s hard to imagine, even odious to imagine, because as a writer, isn’t it always about YOU?

No. It’s never about YOU.