The importance of reciprocity between the writer and the reader is at the forefront of my mind. Not every joke, allusion, metaphor, or reference should be a puzzle that the reader needs to decipher. Some readers, including myself, enjoy when insights are only revealed by the author to the smartest of readers (Note: I am not placing myself among the smartest of readers, I simply enjoy this concept, a sort of secret society for the adept).

 

All stimulating intellectual insights should not be free; the reader should have to get themselves there. But if the entire piece feels like an inside joke between the writer and her friends from Syracuse University’s MFA program, well, what fun is that?