An actual scene is unclassic when the writer wants or needs something from the reader. The classic writer never explicitly argues for the reader’s agreement, never overtly solicits a reader’s vote or ostensibly engages in salesmanship at any level. He does not write to convince his reader of anything or to lead his reader to any action; he does not

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“Some people think that writing is merely the process of picking the right words and putting them in the right order, like stringing beads onto a necklace. But the power of those words, if there is any, doesn’t live inside the words themselves. On its own, ‘Love the questions’ is nearly meaningless. Those words only come alive when they’re embedded... See more

“The concept of the ‘definitive text’ corresponds only to religion or exhaustion.”

~ Jorge Luis Borges, The Homeric Versions