Wow, that's a long post/answer...

Wow, that's a long post/answer...

dawnryse{Happy} • Dec 25, 2020

Have you ever written up a post, answered a question or typed up a reply, then decided not to post it because of its length? And if you have, did you trash it because you decided it wasn't worth posting? Because you didn't think people would take the time or be able to find the relevant points you were trying to make? Or, did you like what you wrote, but saw how long it had become and just didn't want it followed by comments complaining about long answers and posts? And finally, what do you do when you happen upon a long post or receive a long answer to a question?

Byrdie​(switch female){rl only} • Dec 25, 2020

1. No. If I’m concerned about the length, I look for ways to edit it down - is there unnecessary repetition, do I digress from my point, can I make a big block of text into two or more paragraphs for easy reading, etc.

2. Depending on how compelled I feel by the subject, I may copy it to a text program and edit it myself to make it easier to read (run spell check, insert paragraph breaks, etc).

If it’s not a gripping read, I’ll skim it for relevant words, and try to piece it together, or I’ll skip it entirely, read other replies, and may or may not come back to it later.

Miki • Dec 25, 2020

I might have written a long-ish post somewhere but I never let them take up a whole forum "page".

I never shit-canned a post because of length, I can cut to the chase (be blunt) easily enough.

I only get windy if someone posts something that requires a thoughtful reply. But all-in-all I try to put on the shoes of the reader and realize if I wanted to read a novel I'd dip into my Stephen King library, or I'll re-read "Shogun"-- all 900+ pages of it.

MountaintopMaster • Dec 25, 2020

I write for a living, so I know that both word counts and time are money. I've gotten in the habit of keeping things to 500-1000 words, or just giving myself ~5-10 minutes, and after that, I wrap it up, chop off any unfinished thoughts, hit "send", ...and get back to whatever I was supposed to be doing.

Sometimes I fail miserably at this.

NoOneofConsequence​(dom male){Taken} • Jan 3, 2021

1_ Have you ever written up a post, answered a question or typed up a reply, then decided not to post it because of its length?

Yes.

2_ And if you have, did you trash it because you decided it wasn't worth posting?

Yes.

3_ Because you didn't think people would take the time or be able to find the relevant points you were trying to make?

Mmmm... more I didn't think it would be worth their time or I caught myself going off on irrelevant tangents that didn't address the question at hand.

4_ Or, did you like what you wrote, but saw how long it had become and just didn't want it followed by comments complaining about long answers and posts?

Nope. Couldn't care less when some ephemeral Karen type with the attention span of a goldfish on the infernal-nets wants to try to sling her weight around about my replies being longer than 144 characters.

5_ And finally, what do you do when you happen upon a long post or receive a long answer to a question?

Read it if it is interesting and valid. Scroll past it without comment if it turns out it isn't either of those.

******
For myself... I'm not a Twit. I had a Twitter account at one point, for about five minutes, and just didn't see the point. Nor will I engage in a discussion using a platform that tries to tell me that what I have to say is irrelevant merely because it doesn't fit in their tiny little attention span. Twitting is just not my thing.

Thanks to Parkinson's with Central Pain Syndrome complications, every stroke of the keys on the keyboard is intensely painful. It feels as if someone had replaced each of the keys with needles heated in a fire and hooked to an electrical current. Because of this, it is rare that I find things interesting enough to respond at all.

But, when I am engaged and interested enough to have something to say, when I think I might have a viewpoint that might be different enough to be worth the pain and effort, then I am going to say what I have to say. And I'm going to take as many characters and words as I feel necessary to say it.

Each word is relevant to me. And necessary. Or, if it isn't, then I cut it before anyone else is allowed to see it. I'm actually pretty good at slicing the fat and gristle.

Is every word relevant to everyone else? Hardly. This ball of rock is populated by a wide variety of people. And it's been my experiences that many... perhaps even most... want a simple "yes" or "no." And also want to give a simple "yes" or "no," "true" or "false," or just "fill in the blank with one word."

But, it's also been my experiences that there is going to be someone hanging around the fringes that doesn't understand, and is too nerve-wracked to ask. Someone that has allowed themselves to be beaten down by the self-important potentates who like to appoint themselves hall monitor when it comes to length of replies, whether a question has been asked before, or if someone "necros a thread" rather than creating a new thread to ask the same question which they would get busted for anyway.

Ergo, it's them I am talking to, it is them I have enough respect for not to bow down and kowtow to some sanctimonious prick that will be quick to slap down anyone kink-shaming... unless words and communication are the kink in question.

It's also been my experiences that people... even some of the same people who bitch when an answer is too long... will pitch a bitch about something not being clear enough. Or else will take off on a completely different track from what is said by what they filled in that wasn't. And don't make the connection that concision is often the enemy of clarity. And, oh my aching head, the jargon and acronyms!

So, when I am interested enough to write a response at all, I aim for clarity. And if that sacrifices brevity, then so be it.

However... I rarely, if ever, write my response directly in the response field. Instead, I will pull the question over into another application and study it to see if I really am interested enough to court the pain I know is waiting. If it seems worth it to me, then I start typing. And I check back frequently to see if maybe... hopefully... someone else has already said what I would have if they hadn't.

Some times... many times, actually... I will get to a point where I've written about three thousand words and stop. Mostly to give the "pins and needles" extending above the elbow to quiet down. But, also to give me a chance to read what I've written and see if it is actually relevant. If maybe there is a place where my prose isn't as tight as it could have been. If there was an unnecessary example that took me off on a tangent that was irrelevant to the question.

I write to instruct and entertain. That's it. If it doesn't serve one or the other purpose, preferably both, then it isn't worth my time, my effort, my pain to complete fruition.

And, it is very rare that my first attempt at a response will be continued and then posted. More often, it will be my third attempt that will fall to completion and then be posted. Hours after I stumbled into the question face first.

Why go to that much trouble? Because I was interested. And part of being interested was having respect for the poser of the question to explore it as fully as I might. To give less... some pithy response more suited to a bumper sticker or lapel button... would be, in my eyes, to give them less respect than the bravery of asking their question would be due.

I rarely, if ever, go back later. Partially because I've said what I had to say of any value on the topic. Partially because I've tired myself the fuck out and have to rest for a long time after posting, usually a full day or more. Partially because with my increasing memory issues, once I have rested, I don't typically remember even posting anything a day or two later when I happen back by.

As far as following comments complaining about my long posts... As far as I'm concerned, when I actually see them, they've just told me in their best Karen style, that they not only find me boring since I'm not a Twitter to encapsulate in 144 characters or less to fit their goldfish attention span, and do not have any measure of respect for me as a breathing, thinking person with actual feelings rather than just another cardboard cutout of a person populating their world, but have shown me contempt and ridicule in a public format to gain some esoteric social standing amongst the pecking-order of their fellow Karens. And, they are no different than the schoolyard bullies who made my formative years a living Hell... until I figured out that they really only matter in my world as much as I choose to allow them to. And I don't. People who can only pick apart the length of a reply mean approximately as much in my world as gum on the bottom of my shoe. I scrape them off and move on to the people who are relevant and have shown themself worthy of my time, consideration, effort, and pain.

Or, to put it another, more concise way, "the fact they don't care to listen/read means they aren't worth me listening to or reading what they say."

Taking issue with something I've said is one thing. Even when they are wrong. Even when their response clearly indicates that they didn't read the entire thing before they took the wind in their sails to type a scathing review about one sentence in the second paragraph and go on to just reiterate everything I said in the fifth, sixth, and seventh.

But, "you are a long-winded old gasbag and I never read your wall of text..." Okay. Good luck to them, and I truly hope they have a marvelous day. Just somewhere other than around me. 'Cause, obviously we have nothing to say to each other since I only grant respect for so long as it is granted in return.

Any road, I'm tired now. And my arms are aching to the shoulder. So, I'm gonna hibernate for a day or three. Maybe then I'll stumble back by and find something interesting enough posted by someone I respect enough to give unrelentingly and unsparingly of myself until I can't. We'll see.

Until then... may the wind be at your back and the sun out of your eyes for a brighter tomorrow than yesterday.

However many... or few... words it takes to make it that way.