The rule of "So What?" means that your poem/writing contains some:
· Insight and thoughts
· Emotion and feelings
· Importance or significance
· A lesson
· A new spin on something
· A new way of looking at the world
· A unique, significant perspective
· Beauty that amazes the reader
· A way of questioning beliefs
The "So What?" brings the reader beyond the piece of writing and leaves the reader to think, feel, ponder, wonder, question, discuss, recollect, re-look at, re-examine, question something important and significant in their own lives, analyze the world around them, and feel an emotion themselves by laughing, crying, feeling angry, smiling, scoffing, etc.
Reading a poem or story or personal essay should be a moving experience for the reader, not just like reading informational text, like a newspaper.
The "So What?" is what Robert Frost was getting at when he said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.”
(credited to The Center for Teaching and Learning)
