In “Writing as a Mode of Learning” Emig claims that “with writing, the audience is usually absent; with talking, the audience is usually present” (124) therefore writing allows for careful production of thought without inhibition. In comparison, Elbow would have a slightly modified viewpoint of whether writing can be receptive or function as a listening act. In “Closing My Eyes as I Speak” he works through the conflicting idea of considering the audience in writing and the need to write in isolation without consideration of the audience in order to make new meaning. Based on what he discusses in this article, I would argue that Elbow believes writing can function as a listening act, however this is not the best way for writing to exist as a way to make meaning. Instead, Elbow would say that we should write with our eyes (and ears) closed first, especially for more competent writers. The audience is present in the writing process, but by forcing the audience out of the picture, more enhanced learning will take place, because the voice in writing is free from inhibition. The important difference between Emig and Elbow, though, is that Elbow argues that there is a time and a place to allow the audience back into consideration. More specifically, the writer should [listen] to the needs of the audience after there has been copious amounts of exploratory writing, thus the learning process has already taken place and the most important experience of writing occurred within a private dimension.