Quote:
Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe
Unfortunately it is a one-way street. You as the writer cannot control how your reader is going to interpret what you write. But you can do the best you can to not give them the option to interpret it as rude.
In my opinion it is rarely going to work to "hope for the best" from the reader.
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I think what you are saying can easily be turned on its head with a result of still being perfectly valid. I'll try.
The reader is the only one in control of how they react to what I write. Because the potential readers are so diverse, it's impractical, if not impossible to adjust my writing style, and the opinions I express, to satisfy them all. Some of them, "Yes". Many of them, "Hopefully Yes". All of them, "No".
So, I should write what I mean; mean what I write; be happy to have my Grandmothers read what I write; be delighted to explain my meaning if a reader politely asks me for more information; and let the haters hate, if they want to spend their time that way.
In my opinion, it is rarely going to work to be blown about in the wind by the attitudes of everyone who might read what I write (Not that you were advocating that - However, it's the strong way to express one opposing viewpoint).
Blake
PS: I don't think of this as an an either-or topic. There are other useful perspectives/viewpoints. What I wrote above is simply an attempt to show that at least one valid counter-argument does exist.
PPS: I presume that this thread is evidence that I do care about the opinions of many/most people who read what I write, here and elsewhere; and that I try to express myself politely; even though I know it's very unlikely that every reader and I will land on the same page at the end of the discussion. What some consider polite, others will consider rude. No amount of finger wagging by me will change that, so instead I ask both readers and writers to search for charitable, middle-ground interpretations and responses.
PPPS: Some day when I cross someone's "line", I fully expect some or all of this post to come back to haunt me.
Doh!