Substackers here’s something you can be proud of: writing longer form content is actually making a real difference in rewiring our brains back to better attention spans.

This weekend at an SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) conference, during picture book editor Alvina Ling’s talk, someone asked why publishers’ preferred picture book word counts have dropped from 1,000 to 500 over the last several years. Our declining attention spans are surely to blame, and yea I do prefer a shorter book when it’s past the toddler’s bedtime and he’s asking for “just one more”.

BUT! Alvina said she’s noticing a shift- people are starting to take interest in longer form content again, Substack being a clear example. And with picture books a lot of times shorter is better, but she said longer word counts aren’t being discounted anymore. So today I’m challenging us by checking out William Steig’s classic “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” which I would have otherwise dismissed as too long for both of our attention spans. So keep writing your rambling musings, we’re paying attention!!