In reading over Friday’s introduction to the subject of audience and audience-building, I was struck by something I said: “Learning to develop an audience is every bit as necessary a skill as learning to adeptly put the words on the page in the first place.”
Given that part of the reason we write is to figure out what we actually think about something, I’m struck in particular by the word “skill.” Developing an audience is a skill? Do I really think so? I won’t say I’ve reached a firm conclusion, but as I’ve examined the idea so far, I’m inclined to say yes. And if it is indeed a skill, then it is something one can practice, and it is something at which one can improve.