So it’s been 30 days since I started the Short Posts Experiment. Time flies when you’re having fun!
- Short posts reflect how I actually think. In real life, as the day goes by, I don’t think in complete thoughts, with complete arguments, fully furnished with conclusions and everything. In real life, I think in broad generalizations or in one-line anecdotes or in three-word phrases.
- Publishing posts under 100 words makes me less scared to publish “unfinished” posts. A funny thing happens when you start writing: you want things to be good – you get scared of writing anything that isn’t. That’s bad, though, for creativity. Forcing myself to do something that feels uncomfortable – publishing posts that don’t feel finished – helps me shed that fear (and others).
- Sticking to a 100-word limit also keeps me from adding content just to look better, like to keep a three-point flow or something when I really just have two. It’s kind of ridiculous how much I do this. I stay in bed until even numbers show on the clock, though, so maybe it’s pretty normal for me.
- Yes, it’s easier to write short posts, contrary to Mark Twain’s quote, but it’s not that much easier. The reason it’s easier is mostly because I just choose a topic and know what I’m going to say ahead of time. If I don’t know what I’m trying to say, the length doesn’t matter so much.
I’m not really a big fan of reading the short posts – some work okay, most don’t – but I like the freedom to write them. That’s the biggest motivation behind this experiment: to find out. And that’s about all I’ll say on this for now.
