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Blogging and verbosity

Dec 21st, 2006 by Phil Dawes

As somebody who prizes brevity and usually starts with long blog posts and tries to distill them down into palatable chunks I raised an eyebrow at Yegge’s post on the subject. Yegge advocates embracing the verbose.

I could use a good marketing name for this longer-is-better phenomenon too. The synopsis is that I think taking the time to write about something thoroughly gives it a greater (if slower) impact. Look at Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point,” or Surowiecki’s “The Wisdom of Crowds.” Either of their theses could have been succinctly expressed in a simple essay or paper, but would they have had the same global impact? I think not.

Then, by way of proof to the assertion, Yegge proceeds to meander through a seemingly disconnected set of ideas in humourous, eloquent wine-driven verbosity. He tackles blogging, agile rituals, firing your boss and becoming a superstar with barely a pause for breath. Of course the real secret to successful long-winded blogging is managing to remain entertaining while you spew.

BTW, if you haven’t checked his post from way back on why *you* should blog, do so now! It contains lots of insights that were new and valuable to me when I first discovered it earlier this year, including one on the timeliness of ideas that is worth the reading effort on its own.

Posted in workfriendly, blogging | Comments

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    Reference verbosity, I think it depends on the type of blog.

    A technical blog, or a informational blog, should be concise. People go there to learn something and don't want to have to wade through rubbish. One might go days or even months without posting, if there is nothing new.

    An entertainement blog is something else. People want to read and be amused. They like to make it part of their daily routine, so want there to be something posted everyday. Many like to sit down for a long read, like watching a TV programme in the evening, so enjoy mandering provided it is amusing.

    A lot of blogs fall in between.

    I don't think it is easy to make guidelines about what a blog should be, without basing them on the individual audiences and preferences for the blog.
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