Writing Classic Prose
While the writer may have access to information the reader does not possess – indeed, that probably occasions the writing – there is no special authority the classic writer has over the reader. The reader and the classic writer are intellectually symmetrical, with equal competence to assess the relevant understandings of the world presupposed or discussed in classic prose.
The classic prose stylist therefore need never descend to grinding persuasion; an unobstructed view of things is always enough. Every decision of the writer is presumably the same decision that the reader would have made.
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[x]#384 fan zaterdag 31 januari 2004 @ 14:35:47
