Chop chop

Are we losing out because we want everything to be packed into brief expressions? Where is the place for the long stuff?

My observation: long stuff can be captivating if it is presented well. Its gotta grip you at the first sentence, and keep you there till the last, or till something else happens to take your attention away.

There are ways of going about it, rules or guidelines to make written stuff compelling. But it probably still requires some talent. And unless the writer is exceptionally interesting, or maybe on some private shared wavelength with readers, or has some other setup compelling readers to read, its gotta be about what the reader wants. Actually, the above does condense into: its gotta be about what the reader wants.

Also, good content presented badly is bad. I guess the all time number one paragraph — mabye tome — that will save the world has been written, but done so badly that even if one came across it, one would put it aside for a sqizz at the email or facebook. And conversely, shit dressed up as caviar gets drooled over and gobbled up with acclaim and relish. Its not right, but it is so. Maybe its about digestibility.

Maybe what we are losing out is finding the long stuff thats really good.

In case you are still reading, short stuff doesnt have to be bad. A snippet can actually have great impact. But then its a snippet inside a context (the context, is there ultimately only one … but I digress), and the short expression borrows from the scene thats already set to deliver its whammy. So then maybe its not really that short? I mean, a string of numbers could fit in a tweet, but it only starts getting attention if it is known to be the winning series of the next lotto. Or the pin to the bank card you picked up. But lotto and the whole banking system are part of the story.

You gotta go, so much internet to cover out there. But hey, no matter, its all part of one big presentation.