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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3812 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 11, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Goodness no.

Frequently I’ve gone over 5,000 characters even in posts that aren’t “essays”, or at least brushed against it. If anything the limit should be increased.

The long essayposts from people like @DaseindustriesLtd are part of why I keep coming back here. I like that this community is based around original long-form writing, in opposition to everywhere else on the internet that pushes people further and further towards brevity. I’m glad there’s at least one place where people are actually encouraged to share substantive reflections on an issue.

As I’ve said in other discussions on this issue in the past, it’s very rare for me to look at even poor writing and think “that could have been said in fewer words”. I just don’t think that people repeat themselves all that often, even when their thinking is confused or unoriginal. Typically each word and sentence will have some sort of purpose, even if only on a stylistic or formal level (or simply as a record of the writer’s thought process) - otherwise the person probably wouldn’t have written it. Even pure repetition can serve a purpose, like indicating emphasis. So in the majority of cases I don’t even understand what people are complaining about.

Edit- Ok I did actually think "he didn't have to use this many words" when I was reading Foucault's The Order of Things. But that's like, the only time I can remember thinking that in the past several years.

Incidentally I've been trying to practice the virtue of brevity on Twitter. Perhaps @RandomRanger will soon come to like local longform more.

Handle? Or is it a separate identity?

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