Strunk & White
When does a habit become a style? When does a fad become the norm?
I was recently confronted by this quasi-philosophical issue after having poured over a number blogs from across the great literary landscape we call the “blogosphere”—a place that magiacally floats justed above the bloated intellectual landscape of the “micheal-moore-o-sphere”.
And how could it not. From radical diatribes on political shennanagans to the mundane haikus of the spiritual vapid, I soon realized that it is a vast wasteland of quirky insouciance that has somehow become the de facto jell-o mold of our electronic discourse. I encountered so much ’hip’ writing, in fact, that I begin to wonder if I stumbled upon a vast left wing conspiracy hell-bent on bludgeoning us to death with the tripe of the trope.
Everything seemed so excruciatingly bland and pithy and whimsical and poignant and desperately earnest, that the emotional gamut of life has somehow been whitewashed into literary vanilla.
Sure, I came across some slight personal variations: novel topics, unique word choice, esoteric vocabulary. But through it all I mostly found people grasping awkwardly in search of a compelling ‘voice’.
Perhaps I am being too harsh—I too have indulged in a glaring lack of style and have fallen back on cliche and the comfort of the first person. I too have had moments of weakness and tried to exceed my tenuous literary grasp. I paused to wonder: Could this all just be some kind of an allergic reaction to how our stories and our lives are exposed in the media? Could this all boil down to some fundamental boredom in our lives? Is this actually a. . .rebellion?
Nah. Most people just suck at writing.
There is a reason why not all writers are remembered, nor all diarists lauded. Who wants to read the pulp drivel of a hundred years ago? I sure don’t, and I am less inclined to read the crap being produced today.
Well, I can’t change the “blobo-sphere”, such as it is, but I can demand one thing for all of us poor bastards forced to read your blogs: Be interesting!
Thank you and good night.
Note: The best thing I read on a blog? B.J.Penn wannabee’s liquored up on weekends looking for trouble amidst the Tita action hoochimama’s.
