writing

This has fractured the essay into competing mediums. “Articles” use factoids to make mechanical arguments, while “opinion pieces” weave feelings in an organic stream. In articles, the author has no presence. In personal essays, the author’s presence is all there is. One optimizes for objective truth, the other for subjective honesty, and both camps... See more

Even if a writer achieves “formal perfection,” every reader walks away with their own unpredictable reaction. Still, composition matters. It is a delivery mechanism, and when it’s done right it becomes invisible. By sculpting ideas with extreme care, they move through the reader’s veins with no confusion and max potency, letting them come to their ... See more

Paragraphs matter. I’ll always resist copywriters who insist that paragraphs should never be longer than 1-3 sentences. According to White, each paragraph should contain an indivisible topic. Every paragraph functions like a scene change, a visual aid to let your reading know you’re shifting from one facet to another. If you use paragraph breaks to... See more