A rumination from Facebook:
Every day should be worth at least 500 words.
That isn’t why I write these rise-and-fall-of-the-Roman-Empire-length status messages, but as a byproduct, they remind me of my wish to never have a day that wasn’t worth a story – even if in the end, I don’t end up writing it.
You are now excused from reading the rest of today’s message if you wish. It’s mainly a bookmark for my own purposes, sparked by a Geo Geller post from a few days ago, which focused on the state of fb and the social web.
I’ve never been much for reasons. For that matter, “who” and “where” don’t matter much to me either. I’m more interested in the what and how. A baker’s dozen random thoughts:
– In my view, a lot of people see social sites as a place for output of frustrations they feel no one will hear – political, social, current affairs, gossip. It’s a landfill for frustrations. That’s not necessarily bad if a reader understands this and if the writer dumps the frustration and moves on rather than hanging out next to the refuse they just tossed
– In my view, intake from social sites become common verbal tics, prevailing opinions (whether correct or incorrect) and validation of one’s own views. The only new information I receive from social sites is about personal things, not general news or opinion. Occasionally, I find an article to read on another site somewhere
– I’ve never changed my mind based on something I’ve seen on a social site. Ever.
– I love stories too much to risk degrading them or boring myself by recounting them repeatedly. Once written in a public forum, I can offload that story and move on
– A few years ago, I started writing things down for fear I would forget something later. I don’t really care if anyone reads or comments. I do care if I don’t capture things I’d like to remember during the times when I think I’m having a 499-word day
– I blogged in two places in 2006/2007. Most of those stories will not be retold. At some point, I might proofread and copy edit them
– I learned that an English teacher reads some of these to her students. That isn’t why I do it, but that’s cool. Definitely puts some pressure on my syntax, spelling and punctuation. I draw the line at diagramming sentences
– I’ve forgotten a lot of stories, decided some weren’t worth recounting, and am duty-bound not to tell other stories. There are a lot from my first 38 years of life that I write only for myself and choose not to share publicly
– Some posts are bookmarks for me. Just points of reference that are more useful to me than looking back in an Outlook calendar for who I met on a particular day. For example, this is a partial “why” bookmark to think about later
– On fb, I am in the category of people who share a lot, but what I share does not add up to knowing much about me, or to a fraction of what I could share. I like that
– I take pleasure in the written word – both writing it and reading it. I’ll take a fully-formed thought any day over a quip
– I’m capable of being extremely concise. Probably because I have a few outlets for my wordiness
– The best place to hide things is in plain site. On fb, that means writing a long post.
Most days are worth a lot more than 500 words. I like that.