As a reader.

As a writer, you are trying to craft something that can get the message across. You are looking to refine it, structure it well. There's hard work in that.

But the harder part is empathy. It is being in the reader's shoes, trying to understand how she would feel as she goes through each line.

The difference is not clear until you read a version you can't edit. Until you send yourself the message and see how it feels.

Writing well is not about writing prose. It's about making the reader feel what we want them to feel.