I'm convinced there are two broad camps of people: those who see writing merely as a means to an end, those who view it as an artform. The people in the first c

I'm convinced there are two broad camps of people: those who see writing merely as a means to an end, those who view it as an artform. The people in the first camp tend to focus on some fabricated idea of concrete meaning (they tend to think the meanings of words are more rigid than they actually are), they emphasize simple words and love economy of prose. They tend to pump out business-speak articles and like using simple metaphors that are temporally bound to the present. They also indulge in what I'd call (in my own business speak) "lite-jargon" --industry terminology in vogue, etc. Most of all, they think writing is purely a vehicle for thought and should require as little work as possible to read and should immediately convey some pristine, concrete insight. They don't really understand how language works. They are thinkers first and writers second. The other camp values writing in and of itself. They can sense the richness of words, the flexibility of meanings, the pliability of structure. They know that words are not containers of thought but are in fact co-constitutive of thought. They appreciate style and innovation at the level of the text itself. A plain idea put beautifully is more interesting to them than a beautiful idea put plainly. They can appreciate poetry, which is more economical than the bloodless prose those in the first camp worship, and yet far more interesting. When it comes to prose, they desire work that proves its linguistic creativity more than its intention or "meaning". Those in this camp are writers first and thinkers second. Personally, I find the writing of everyone in the first camp completely agonizing and I lament every article that expounds the benefits of well-oiled plain-jane clarity above all. To me, trying to strive for some ultimate clarity in writing always stunk of massive denial of the fact that meaning is extremely fuzzy in general and that's part of what makes it all fun.