A Trick from Art School

I was talking to my buddy Alen tonight, mentioning that I think I need an editor to give me some focus on a series of articles I'm planning on writing on New Media or development. The conversation went something like this:

"I've figured out that I need to have someone ask me a question, then I seem to be able to write", I said. "Like when you ask me some question like what hard drive to buy, I send you a feckin' book. But if I'm just in a vacuum by myself...nothing!"

"Well yeah", observed Alen. "That's a trick they teach you in Art School. Like when you come up with some theme like The Circle of Life. and yeah ok, it's all arty and good. Then you paint it and it just sucks for some reason. But then you think of it as a gift for someone...and you paint it for your Mom and everything's cool."

I sort of gape at this, because it seems so obvious and I've heard it before: Don't just write...write for someone. I've thought about audience in general terms, but not a specific person and all that entails. Could it be that simple?