The publisher, in refusing to accept my refusal to rewrite the book to fit his specifications, said: "I believe we have a disagreement over what the purpose of writing is." Had I replied, I would said this:
The purpose of writing (writing as a form of art) is to provide an experience. It is an experience that echoes but is not matched by any other experience. Being both emotional and intellectual in a way that no experience with "things" or "nature" can match, it provides room for reflection if not insight into life that only it can.
If you have any other view of what writing is, you should trade it in for this one.
