Watches are great, an obsession I feautre here, but I received a deeper satisfication the other day reading Best American Essays 2013, a book I reviewed for Amazon as part of their Vine Program. In the collection I came across Charles Baxter's "What Happens in Hell," which may be the best essay I've ever read. Also, Baxter's gem inspired me to start writing personal essays. I might even start a new blog called Man-Child (title my wife's idea) or something.
But do people read 10 pages of text on a blog post? I wonder what the best way to deliver essays on a blog would be.
1500-4500 words of tight, concise text, tops.
Posted by: Jesse Menn | November 11, 2013 at 08:55 PM
That's more words than I thought. Of course, will anyone read it. That's the question.
Posted by: herculodge | November 11, 2013 at 10:07 PM
Minimize distractions, maximize the space devoted to text, and use a legible font a bit larger than you think you need. A format like this, your blog page, will work for desktops with large screens. But for tablets never underestimate how just one little picture or ad, a bit of bling, a pointless decoration, make the text so small and cramp it into such a small area that it becomes an agony to read.
Posted by: Bill | November 12, 2013 at 04:44 AM
Jeff, you might consider an ebook of your blog posts, Ed or I can help you on that.
Posted by: Tom Welch | November 12, 2013 at 07:25 AM
It is sad to me that attention spans continue to diminish (mine included). Since the internet I find myself reading far less, but when I do it is of much greater satisfaction than surfing the 'net or watching the tube.
I say go for it and see what happens, but don't be discouraged if few people read or comment. Consider your way of sharing works in progress with the ultimate goal being publication and the blog being lead-up.
By the way, whenever see the word "manchild" I think of Herbie Hancock's great album of jazz funk, Man-Child.
Posted by: jonnybardo | November 12, 2013 at 07:37 AM
I'm an enthusiastic reader of books, even thick books (500 pages +). But for whatever reason, I hate reading on the internet, on screens of any type. I get most of my news online, so I do use the internet constantly. But article-wise, I don't read anything online that's longer than about two pages. If I think I need to read something longer than that, I'll print it, but that's in rare cases.
Posted by: Tim | November 13, 2013 at 07:43 AM
try essaydaily.blogspot.com
Posted by: A | January 14, 2014 at 07:09 AM