The How of Who?

“To decline the gambit, to remain passive in the face of the author’s strongest passions and deepest convictions is surely condescending, insulting, and finally irresponsible.” This quote is Booth’s indirect way of saying what the readers should do. The reader should find the author behind the words and punctuations of the book. He didn’t, on the other hand, mention what the author’s responsibilities are to the readers. After some reflection, I realized that it really isn’t necessary. The writer doesn’t have any responsibilities to the reader beyond this one universal truth: the writer should have a developed focus. It’s the writer’s responsibility to inform the reader, to offer the reader different perspectives other than what the reader are familiar with or whatever. What I’m trying to say, and rather failing at it, is that a writer’s work should have a purpose. It’s the writer’s responsibility to make sure that the reader finds something in the pages of the book—even if it’s the proverbial gem or just a piece of rock. Beyond that, a writer could do anything. He could invent castles made from grass in his writing. So long as there’s something to be found in a book or a journal or a piece of essay, the writer really has served his purpose. If the writer created a piece of writing that’s just made of patched-up words and glued nonsensically, then the writer really has failed.