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11/03/2026

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2026/03/11#p1

Tracy Durnell writes that she hadn’t considered "a textual equivalent of negative space".

the places in which the reader might step back and consider their own examples or anticipate what point the author is trying to make

On reflection, this is such an obvious concept—most writing (except the purely informational) should allow the reader space to pause and reflect, to think and examine.

As Tracy notes, many things are written "as if the same points are equally important to all readers". Not only this, the same reader may take different things from a piece of text at different times based on mood and experience. Emphasis can be placed on different ideas depending on how they resonate with the reader at that particular moment.

Spelling everything out in such a way as to negate reader experience, interpretation and, more importantly, interpolation, is to do them a disservice.

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