This is an IMPORTANT one…

Can I say something? Maybe it’ll offend you.

I hope not.

(Take a breath.)

I’m not in this to insult, but to elevate.

You don’t have to do it. Do what, you ask? Write like — well — this.

Constant breaks. Short, fragmentary sentences. Cheap rhetorical questions and ridiculous hooks. Dropped subjects and shorn predicates. Syllabic minimalism. Stunted cadence.

A caricature of Hemingway. A bad homage to mid-century pulp. But with e-mail syntax.

Oof!

Oh, and the “conversational” tone. Right? The notes of contrived earnestness.

Do you think you’re making things easier for your reader?

Hardly.

You’re toying with him. Bringing down the quality of public conversation. Trading on our collective ADHD.

I’d call it AI. But it’s sub-AI.

Worse than fake and phony. Manipulative. Low and vulgar. Simply silly.

And I’ll admit it. I’m guilty, too. (Man, that’s tough to say.)

So what’s the fix? Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe it’s too late.

But …

Make your paragraphs solid. Not dense, but appropriately robust.

Aim for elegance and fullness of expression, not punchiness and false economy.

Don’t be afraid of multiplying punctuation marks.

Don’t chop up your clauses.

Adopt a serious tone. Cultivate real sincerity.

And read more. Books, not Substacks. Real books. Challenging books. Books of every sort. Magazines, too. Paper ones!

Who knows? Could be we break the habit. Worth a shot, right?

Why not? What’s stopping you?

Go for it.