What does that title mean? Is it:
“What am I writing today?” (What topic will I write about?)
This is something that has recurred to me quite often over the
decades, but even more so now in this age of emails and texts and tweets and
LOLs. Our lives are being hosed by a flood of information, and it’s getting
harder and harder to distinguish the important things from the junk.
“What? Am I writing today?” (Is this the day I’m supposed
write? Am I going to?)
What period (pun intended) am I in? I’m not used to this
undefined mass of characters – it makes my brain have to work harder to make
sense of things. Misspelling (deliberate or otherwise) can be confusing, but
usually you can understand whether they meant THEIR or THERE or THEY’RE. But my
life needs structure- it must be full of question marks… and ellipses, if I’m
going to get it right.
“What am I, writing today?” (What kind of person am I, to
write on today, of all days?)
One of the hardest things about talking to people when they
aren’t in the room with you is you lose a lot of subtext and intent that is
conveyed through visuals – there is more meaning than just what the words
carry. A phone call loses part of this
subtext, but at least you can still hear the punctuation accompanying the
spoken words (most of us humans DO still use inflection when we speak.)
“What am I writing?
Today.” (What topic am I writing? Not tomorrow, but now.)
140 characters just doesn’t cut it – the punctuation is the
first to go, and with it clarity. People who think that they know exactly that
they’ve captured all the possible meanings in that text message they received
also are the kind who think that they really can multi-task. Without
single-minded focus, something is always missed.
“What? Am I writing?
Today?” (What are you asking me? You want to know if I’m writing? Today, or
when?)
We need punctuation in our lives – something that helps us
filter through everything and understand what it all means – the important
parts. There are no shortcuts that give you a truer insight into what’s going
on.
#whatamiwritingtoday
Really? A can of alphabet soup is not an effective form of
communication.
Just saying…
<<<>>>
William Mangieri’s writing (including his latest
ePublication: “The Red Barrens”) can be found in many places, such as:
- His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
- Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
- Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
- Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE
Connect with him on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink
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