I’ve been choosing topics that are too big, like the Multiple Identities posts. That’s a topic that can be covered in a research paper and 75-page thesis. Not a two-part, 3,000-word blog post. But a few things get in the way when I try to write shorter, more focused pieces:
I start thinking about relationships between the idea I’m supposed to write about and another idea I’m interested in. I have a ton of associations that are loosely connected, and I want to put all of them into the post, in an attempt to replicate my thought process. I’m pretty sure throwing things in without concrete connections is the textbook-definition of bad logic. But I’m also used to poetry: which posits that logic does not describe the world accurately. Logic does not explain why we are alive and why the universe exists. Our true experiences are wilder and more spontaneous, like poetry, which can be anti-logical. So I'm sentimentally attached to long, winding, flow-of-consciousness posts.
Related to the point above: a lot of topics worth writing about are ambiguous and highly nuanced. Part of the reason I'm writing about them is because I'm unsure. I don't have a strong opinion, and I'm trying to sort out my ideas, rather than assert one opinion is correct. Is it really possible to express multiple perspectives in a short, snappy, social-media way? If so, what’s the purpose of long-form writing? Clearly, there's a purpose: to tell a deeper, fuller story. What makes a topic manageable enough to tackle in a short versus a long essay?
I started this blog as a way to reflect deeply and to try to express my thoughts and experiences. I don’t want to “cut down” my ideas for the sake of conforming to 30-second-attention time spans on the internet. But at the same time, as a writer, my ultimate goal is to communicate. Otherwise, I could just write everything in my diary. Can I separate my thoughts into more compartmentalized, easily-read blocks? No one has enough time (or enough interest) to read all my ramblings. I should interrogate my writing more and cut down everything unnecessary.
This is a smaller part of my own continuous internal struggle of breadth vs. depth. I’ve heard plenty of evidence both ways: the polymaths and Renaissance-man/woman arguments, and the focus-on-one-thing/deeply-study-one-classic-book-an-entire-year arguments. I see myself as more of a “breadth” person, but lately I’ve been more insecure. I want to focus. Focus, focus, focus. So maybe instead of writing blog posts on random topics, I should just research one topic, and write different perspectives on that topic. (Although put that way, it sounds quite boring.)
Either way, I think it will be good practice to write in both long-form and short-form. So I’m separating my Reading Supply categories into “long thoughts” and “short thoughts.” Whoever is reading can maybe pick what they have time for (which I'm guessing is skimming.)
I also briefly considered “short thoughts," “tall thoughts,“ and ”grande thoughts,“ like a Starbucks order. But unfortunately, I don't think I've ever had a "grande thought" in my life.
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