Bite Size - or Encylopedia Brittanica

Folks post in many ways. My suggestions . K____I____ S ____S that means in laymens terms "keep it simple stupid. "
Proverbs says , "The Fool is known by the multitude of words" , & " In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin." Let me put it this way , say more with less . Don't heap heavy reading burdens on people. If you you believe you have something that is "Holding forth the word of life" expecting them to read a long article . Personally I avoid those articles entirely . Communicate . , Don't copy and paste a reading assignment for homework , it's counterproductive.
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

The Bible is over 1000 pages and is pretty heavy.

Thankfully its verses are all numbered. But that was a modern invention, before that you had to read theough the entire scroll and all the words were stucktogetherwitnogapsandyounhadtopointtothewordswitastickcalledayad.

Yep, definitely something I attempt to do.

There are two posters that have good content but it's too long and the formatting of the posts are a bit trying on my brain. I put up with it if I feel a "check" but it's exhausting otherwise.


Not that I don't have my own shortcomings here but I think my formatting is alright and is closer to speech than an article...hopefully it's not "too" difficult to read through.

Reading can be pretty difficult and I think people forget that when they post text walls or just really long posts.



Ach. lest I avoid doing precisely that, it would be nice to be able to put "spoilers" in to expand posts if people so chose...I like the expansion for some things because of the unique flair individual perspectives spice up my walk with but it depends.

That would require a considerable amount of additional effort for some though to be fair.

I know this thread was posted a while ago, but I thought I'd take a shot at it.

There have always been comments on the forum that people don't like reading long posts. This is exactly why I've always preferred written communication to phone calls -- people can skip over what doesn't apply to them or what they find fatiguing. However, it can make it difficult for someone to then contribute to the actual discussion.

I write a lot of threads in which people just want (or only have the time to) answer the thread title, which is perfectly understandable -- we all do it. But the body of my threads are often from a different perspective, and sometimes even in polar opposite to the title, so it makes for very interesting results.

As for short and simple posts vs. lengthy, I think it all depends on your own writing style, what God puts on your heart, and what information is needed to start the discussion. I've seen some instances where threads were started with two sentences, which could work just fine, but it usually didn't give people enough context to know what was really being asked. I almost always include a story about my own situation because I feel it's not fair to ask others to share without laying down my own vulnerability in front of them first.

My personal view is that different people are going to write in different ways, and it's going to resonate with the different types of people in the audience. Like will gravitate towards like -- some enjoy shorter posts, some are drawn to deeper dives. Both have a place.

I'm never offended when people say my posts and threads are way too long to read -- I understand, and there are times when I skip over things that are too long or not keeping my attention as well. We all do. Maybe that person wasn't meant to read that post anyway. I have faith that if there IS anyone out there who was meant to read what was written, God will lead them to it, even if it's just one person. And if not, then everyone has the option to skip over it, and I just see it as another writing exercise that is preparing the writer for the next post.

My only exception is when I get people criticizing what I've written and it's obvious that they didn't read the entire beginning post and its context. I'll try my best to listen to what they're saying but in order to gain credibility, I also think one has to demonstrate that they took the time to at least try to read and comprehend your basic premise. I can't take criticism from someone who doesn't at least try to hear out what I have to say. It's just a basic courtesy of communication.

And when the most critical answers come in, you can often tell right away if the person actually read your post.

Personally, I've always seen writing longer posts as a bit of an advantage over the years. I encourage anyone who doesn't like long posts to skip mine (do what you believe God is leading you to do,) but for me, long posts might attract fewer people, but it also leaves the ones who don't mind the deep dives. Over the years, this has led to several connections with others that led to long-lasting friendships and even real-life meetings.

As much as I do my best to convince such people that I'm perfectly harmless , I think one of the reasons several of my CC friends seemed to have no issue inviting me to visit them and their families in person for the first time is because I've been here a while and since I write so much, people know I don't have anything to hide. With this much time and writing, if I were a catfish or trying to be someone else, I would have tripped up enough to where someone would have caught on by now. (Well... maybe not. Lol. I think it was in this past year that a newer poster said he thought I was a catfish and also that I was really a man.) Ha!

But that's the other benefit I see to the posting style I'm comfortable with. It seems to attract people who don't mind putting the work into reading long posts and building online friendships. (Not that people who write shorter posts can't, of course, but I do think it's more challenging that way.)

And I'm certainly not saying that those who write short posts are hiding anything; I'm just saying that people have said that all the writing made them feel like they knew who I really was long before we actually met in person.

If you had written a gospel it never would have the sentence "Jesus wept."

Ha!

It might.

See?

I believe in brevity when it fits.


Funny thing, people have teased me about my long posts for the entire time I've been here (since 2009.)

But for some reason (the grace of God,) it doesn't seem to stop me from making friends here, so I'll stick to what's working!

I'm teasing of course and we have become regular chatters of late despite your shortcomings.

More often than not, I've found that what others see as "shortcomings" are usually someone's greatest advantages.

Looking forward to more of your posts, Cameron!

They're always filled with wisdom, understanding, and a big dose of humor that almost feels wicked.

I really was teasing. I have no idea what people's shortcomings are here. And even if I discover something I know far worse about myself. That's why it never bothers me to be insulted. I already assume whatever someone's opinion is it's already inflated. I've literally seen people's whole demeanor change when I thank them for a snub. Priceless.

Personally, I like a deeper dive, as long as it's not an incohesive mess. An individual's writing skills do matter. Your posts have a good flow to them.

This is just a part of why I enjoy reading your posts.

There is so much to learn from them!

Really glad to have you as part of the forum.

You are very kind. I bet you made the nice list this year.

I definitely agree that the way the post is carried out makes a huge difference.

I think it's something that only comes with practice, which is why I keep trying.

Thanks very much, @notonmywatch for the kind words. I really appreciate it!

I also find constructive criticism helpful from people who are active participants in the conversations. It's influenced my writing style immensely over the years.

Tell that to my empty stocking.

I thought that was because you shared what you had gotten.

Hmm.

Please define this mysterious word, "S-h-a-r-i-n-g."

I'm thinking it means different things to different people.

For instance, eating all the individual chocolates and then giving the wrappers to other people is "technically" "sharing." Right? Right?!

P.S. You get +50 bonus points for thinking I'm actually that generous.

Hmmmm....I'm reevaluating my initial thoughts based on new information that was previously withheld.
I'm sure sharing wrappers with the wrapperless is covered somewhere in Matthew 25 even though Jesus never specifically said when He was wrapperless you gave to Him.

Thank you. Why do people use so many colors, large fonts, bold, crazy mixtures of all of the above? Are they insecure and afraid they won't get noticed? And why the long, rambling copy and paste jobs? I think people who do this are simply unable to form any kind of original, coherent thoughts of their own. Doesn't make them bad people, just sayin'. Some of these posts look like they were made by a five-year-old playing with crayons. To me it's very unsettling and I can't bring myself to read any of them.

While we're at it, someone needs to mention: There's something called the paragraph in the English language. You don't put every sentence on a new line.

Based on what I'm reading here, starting with the opening post, I think that a lot of people here would have jumped off a cliff during Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

And that doesn't even take into account those that I would have pushed.

😄

The sermon on the mount actually makes sense and is presented in coherent way.