Is it okay to write in a very dense, heavy style?

This might sound a bit ridiculous, but why do I need to give the reader a good experience? Of course, I guess for most people the answer would be "because that's how you ensure you are going to be read". My former literature teacher always told me how she dislikes it when the reader doesn't have to put any amount of work in, and while I don't exactly think I want to over-encumber the reader, I think writing something that forces someone to think is something that will keep them more engaged. Of course, I'm not saying anything I wrote is like that yet, but that's what I would aspire towards. Either way, I genuinely don't necessarily care about the reader's experience that much(though I do enough to change the flow of my sentences at times just to keep the reader engaged, like with the "each smoke-coated flues" part). I just want to write something true to myself and that can convey what I felt like when writing something. Which is why I tend to liken what I write to poetry rather than prose oftentimes.

/r/writing Thread Parent