Most writers (myself included), spend a lifetime trying to craft a single perfect sentence. We write junk, after junk, discard 99% of the words and thoughts in the hope that we can create something that will outlive us.
Whether it is the perfect joke, the perfect observation, the perfect comment on what it means to be human… we are in pursuit of that one perfect set of words, that we assembled in the right order, that stands the test of time.
This is what “content” people don’t understand.
This is what tech bros, and the AI/LLM people who think it does “writing” don’t understand. We don’t write to blend in and create a dull word arrangement based on probabilities. We seek to do the opposite.
They will never, ever understand the anguish, the ruminating, the reading, the process that goes into creating a sentence that stands out amongst so many – a sentence good enough to elicit a tear, prompt an epiphany, or provoke a shiver at its profundity. They will never know the high of crafting great word arrangements that resonate with people. Or, the lows of writing what you think is the perfect word arrangement, to find nobody – at least right now, while you’re alive – sees it.
Or, the perplexity at writing what you think is a terrible and sloppy word arrangement and people thinking it’s great. That’s the roughest and weirdest one.
What the “content” people create is junk, to sell junk, to people who don’t want to hear words of importance. The word arrangements are a means, not an end.
“Content” people manipulate readers into doing something we might not ordinarily do, or into wanting something we might not ordinarily want. Content people are transactional thinkers and see you, the reader as a mark.
Writers are relational. There is no other agenda. Writers don’t need to manipulate. Writers inspire, persuade – and it is the words, the sentence that, if we are lucky, has our name to it, that is perfectly crafted to get you to repeat it to someone else, that stands on its own.
I don’t know if I got any good sentences here, but that’s okay. 99% of my stuff is junk. But, I hope you like them. Oh and like, subscribe and become a Patron if you want.