Writing by Formula May Ruin the Pleasure Of Something Unique
Incessant devices are too much of a good thing
As a writer, I let myself be bombarded every day, often multiple times in a day, with ‘How To’s and Listicles teaching me new tricks to grab eyeballs, retain reader attention and inveigle SEO engines.
Sure, I want my article to be successful. And I certainly don’t want to allow typos and grammar errors to get out there. But the price I am paying in dressing things up is increasing steadily. I am trying to settle it down, but there’s a lot of it. One can easily get tipmissphobia — the fear of missing out on a tip — one on writing in this case. At a rough count, there would be about 30 things to take care of to make an article tick all the boxes that will make the curators, readers and analytics engines take the bait. It has become about 30% of my writing time, and I sure am champing at the bit.
I also worry I am taking advantage of the reader’s mind. Although I believe I have worthwhile things to say, it doesn’t stop me from feeling like a bit of a bounder.
As a reader, I can now spot from half a mile away when writing has gone through this pre and post-production work to create a slick package. I simultaneously empathise with the writer and feel a fraternal kinship and a sinking sense of…
