Should we care about readers?
What’s the difference between a writer and an artist — an artistic writer that is?
The artist doesn’t care about what the reader thinks. He is not writing for the reader — he is writing for himself. It’s rather like the argument I have made about art vs. design, which needs to be functional for the user, unlike art.
Those of us who write mostly non-fiction have to care about all sorts of things that the fiction writer/artist doesn’t have to consider. Many people will disagree, I’m sure, but that’s how I see it.
People who write for others, and do so poorly, are hacks. I think I will work out a Writer Taxonomy, including the above categories and others as well. Watch for it soon.