I’ve noticed my writing style has changed in the last few years in a very specific way: I seem to have unconsciously/consciously deprecated all features of writing that make it valuable to readers while focusing on those that make it more valuable to me. A more “private” style.
Conversation
It’s I think a reaction to a sense that our society is increasingly devaluing the written word so my brain is unconsciously going, “well screw you guys, I’m taking this show private”.
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The devaluing takes many forms: careless language by public figures, disdain for precision/nuance, indifference to clarity. Fewer people just taking pleasure in words (wit, irony, wordplay, artistically interesting subversions), devaluing of verbal products like wonkery etc.
Replying to
Features that are more for readers than me: memes, neologisms, helpful examples, images, aphorisms, throughline narratives, scripted “aha” moments, pop culture references. While I enjoy (or used to) the crafting of these, when I write for myself I dispense with them.
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To be fair, the abuse of language in service of the power: to intimidate, manipulate, pander, flatter, threaten, scare, obfuscate, mislead, misdirect...this is a legit skill and art form in its own right. And deliberate practitioners of that kind of language are doing fine.
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But there’s a joylessness to such use that is uninterested in its ability to enable rather than retard thought. And it’s not about power per se. Language+power are PB&J when one is not reduced to being an instrument of the other (think good rap lyrics or dialogue in Deadwood)
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Not writer’s block exactly, but I’ve “lost” my *public* voice. A sense of “why bother? no matter how much effort and thought I put into it, some shitty trumpy thing or outrage cycle will take over the discourse”
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Pen vs. sword is a pretty good dichotomy. I think in the current mood practicing shooting would feel more rewarding than practicing writing, as far as cultivating a public voice goes (for the record I’ve never fired a gun or been particularly attracted by the idea)
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(No objection/problems with learning gun skills, and if I had to I suppose I’d learn and get mediocre at it)
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