Mar 29, 2023
Reading for the plot
Read some people arguing about “reading for the plot vs reading for the language”, and... it is so annoying...
You read for what the words make you experience. What they make you feel and think; laugh or cry or be scared, etc. All the different things a book can do. That’s why you read. “Plot” is also one of these things. "Plot” does not actually exist. It’s just words. You read for the words. And you co-create whatever “plot” or “characters” or “world” there is, out of your empathy, intellect, cultural knowledge, experience, etc.
It’s not a perfect metaphor, but think of it as the pixels making up an image. You wouldn’t say you like the pixels, nor that the pixels don’t matter. There are only pixels.