[MD] Taking Words Seriously

[david buchanan]

Hey Matt:

I forget who said it and where I heard it, but there is at least one writer who says that writers write for an ideal reader. This ideal reader that doesn't really exist but writers write for him all the same. This ideal reader is one that understands all of your references and sees the point of all your pointed jokes. He is able to discern your tone and your connotations as well as the explicit meaning of what you say. In short this ideal reader can see what you have in mind, but he's not mind reader. He can only understand what you think IF you put it on the page, of course.

I think that's a very interesting idea and it probably goes both ways. The idea is about the writer imagining his ideal audience but it's also about being a really good reader. With some effort, one could almost become an ideal reader like this. If you learn as much as you can about the author and his interpreters and then read that author's work carefully and repeatedly, you could get pretty close to this ideal. You can decide to make yourself worthy. 

I like the idea for the way it flatters the reader too. It says, in effect, "you are smart enough to understand everything I say." It says, "I trust you and respect your intelligence." It says, "there is no reason to think that i have to spoon-feed these ideas to you or otherwise condescend." It says to the reader, "I can talk to you because you're well informed and the sky is blue in your world too." This ideal reader is neither baffled nor bored by your level of discourse. That's who you're writing for. Seems to me that this would apply to just about any kind of writer. It works if you're an amateur philosopher, a dramatist, or a stand-up comedian. 


Took my wife to see some comedy a few weeks ago. We sat in the center of the first row, which means you're likely to become part of the show even if you don't want to be. I'm a huge fan but there was a couple sitting right next to us that had never even heard of the comedian (Marc Maron). Maron knew this just by looking at us and he had great fun showing off his ability to read his audience. He says to me, "You know me, right? You get me, right?" "Oh, yea. A know you a little too well," I said. Then he said to the guy sitting next to me, "But I can tell by your haircut that you and I have absolutely nothing in common and you came here tonight having no fucking idea who I am, am I right?" The guy nodded yes. Maron then went on to make all kinds of guesses about the guy and all his guesses were bull's eyes. 


Writers rarely enjoy this kind of instant feedback and so they can never become that skilled at reading their audience, but I think the principle is the same. Some people just aren't going to get you no matter how smart they are. There is the issue of temperament too, and this has very big consequences in terms of whose going to find you appealing, interesting or even entertaining. Maron freely admits that his comedy isn't for everyone. In fact, he has very little respect for the "broad" comedians who try to appeal to everyone. In fact, he hates that kind of mediocre bullshit. He thinks that comedians are in the truth-telling business and doing it right means doing it your own way. The "truth" has to come out of your own life, your own experience and feelings. In other words, nothing excellent can be produced through imitation or by trying to fulfill somebody else's idea of what a comedian should be. You're not really a comedian, he says, until you find your own voice. If you speak with your own voice and your audience still understands all your references and all your pointed jokes, you've won. Take a victory lap and call your mother.