3 ms·
There is a very clear distinction between details and main point. If you assume that there is no main point in a text, you negate all that the writer is trying
by felipefar 3y ago
There is a very clear distinction between details and main point. If you assume that there is no main point in a text, you negate all that the writer is trying to communicate.
- TeMPOraL 3y agoMaybe I've been reading books the wrong way my whole life, but I never assume there's a singular "main point" in the text. I mean, why would one waste time writing 100 or 1000 page text circling around some single point for the reader to guess, instead of spelling it clearly up front, and then arguing for it?
- munificent 3y agoYou're asserting a dichotomy that I didn't make. Often, writing is like a connect-the-dots drawing where those points are the written details and the point is the overall shape. Yes, there is a "main point" that is not those details. But it's the details that convey it. Subtract all of them, and the shape disappears. For any given reader, some of those detail points won't resonate with them and will be basically ignored. But as long as there are enough other details, they will still trace the right shape and get the overall point. A big part of the art of writing is figuring out which constellation of details will lead to the right shape being traced in the minds of as many readers as possible.