The Primary Duty and Action of a Writer

Choosing the right genre, selecting the best setting, devising the most engaging plotlines, providing the necessary archetypal characters, and attracting attention through carefully planned and run scenes are part of what a writer must do to get the product of a reader connected with, fascinated by and moved by a story.

It isn’t that there is such a thing as a difficult reader; there is really only a failure to recognise where a reader's attention is, or bungled attempts to direct it, or a lack of success in removing obstacles in the way of that particular reader.

This is the primary duty and action of a writer -to connect the reader with the work.

The whole structure of marketing and the entire layout of the book itself is there to connect readers to works and bring about a state of affairs in which individual readers are in tremendous affinity with a range of works.

That is what writing is all about.

Basic assumptions must therefore include:

1. That all works either are or can be made interesting to at least some readers.

2. That readers want to have a closer affinity for and understanding of stories.

3. That connecting readers with works is a writer’s responsibility (given that they possess more knowledge of their own works than readers do) and

4. That it is always possible to direct attention and remove barriers so that connections are made and sustained.

If writers do not begin with these assumptions -plus a confidence that they can connect readers to a work or works - then reading stories for pleasure becomes almost impossible and readers are betrayed.

If writers recognise these assumptions, the real work of writing can begin.