Two reasons why it's easier to find an audience for writing on the basis of different experiences than novel ideas
philosophybear.substack.com
Maybe it’s my imagination, but if the two basic pitches for a non-fiction bit of media are “I have a different experience” and “I have a novel idea”, it seems to me that after about 2008 the balance started tipping from ideas to experiences and the personal essay rose to prominence. Even when ideas are nominally the focus, the identity of the person having them has become more important. This is most obviously true through articles like “here’s what I think of X as a person of Y identity”. However it is also true in subtle ways. For example, the Conversation, and its op-eds written by academics-
Two reasons why it's easier to find an audience for writing on the basis of different experiences than novel ideas
Two reasons why it's easier to find an…
Two reasons why it's easier to find an audience for writing on the basis of different experiences than novel ideas
Maybe it’s my imagination, but if the two basic pitches for a non-fiction bit of media are “I have a different experience” and “I have a novel idea”, it seems to me that after about 2008 the balance started tipping from ideas to experiences and the personal essay rose to prominence. Even when ideas are nominally the focus, the identity of the person having them has become more important. This is most obviously true through articles like “here’s what I think of X as a person of Y identity”. However it is also true in subtle ways. For example, the Conversation, and its op-eds written by academics-