Oliver Bateman Does the WorkVerified account

the reason I write mainly for @WeAreMel & @MUGGER1955 is because, instead of just leaving the literary flourishes in there, they expect them

i'm not some "art for art's sake" type, but I try to deliver not just content chock full of intriguing sentences, unexpected digressions, odd personal details (here I mention hand grippers)...anything to make what i've written worth skimming rather than merely clicking on

and if you read through the 500 or so paid bylines i've got posted on my page, you'll see that they all a) reference other pieces, b) hyperlink to those pieces, c) reuse certain turns of phrase from those pieces, or (in the case of the fiction) d) feature the same characters

i'm truly lucky that (some) editors have paid me and allowed me to construct funhouses for others and be their secret operator (heck, i'm quoting @mugger1955 hot take-verse fiction in the @cjr)

nothing "great" will ever come of it, but i'm cool with that, because for now this big web of meaning exists -- has been sold to finance my weight equipment, in fact! -- and i get to keep adding to it with each new piece

i mean, my vision for the writing i do, such as it is, is that every piece will contain every other piece, over and over 'til death do us part, etc.