I am writing for myself and strangers. This is the only way that I can do it. Everybody is a real one to me, everybody is like some one else too to me. No one of them that I know can want to know it and so I write for myself and strangers.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author writes for personal fulfillment and an unknown public, not for acquaintances who might judge.
- In plain terms
- I write for myself and unknown people, not friends who know me.
- What can you take from it?
- Write for your own truth and distant readers.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who is your audience?
- Why do you write?
Another view
Writing for strangers can lead to isolation.
More from Gertrude Stein
Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
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