That last entry was too long. This is a problem for me. When I see that other people have written emails or blog entires that are too long, I think, “self-indulgent!” I’m not sure what that means, though, so I’m not sure how to fix it when I do it. I don’t think concise writers get that way by cutting and cutting and cutting. I think they have concise thoughts, or their thoughts naturally take concise forms. When I try to keep things short, it feels like cramming a snake into a tissue box, and that’s how it reads, too. I could do more editorial work to make my writing shorter, but that means I have to take even longer to write it, which somehow seems like a step in the wrong direction. It takes me long enough already.

I think my overuse of emphasis is probably a tip-off. It signifies that I feel like none of my sentences really expresses what I mean; it’s like leaning to try to influence a mis-aimed golf ball.

I don’t actually feel like my aim is all that bad, but it’s like I’m taking a thousand short strokes to get to the hole. That’s when I don’t initially know where the hole is. When I know where the hole is, I end up trying to nail it in one grotesque stroke, and the rest is ugly, annoying compensation.

Odd that I’m using a golf metaphor. I’ve never played golf. Mini-golf is another story.