Writing intentionally

How do we engage with complexity?

Vincent Van Gogh, Oleanders, 1888.

Writing and reading with nuance

“Slowness… nurtures attention, and speed shatters it.”

-Johann Hari (Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—And How to Think Deeply Again, 36)

When I began writing for the public in 2015, my best friend got me a book called Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt. It was revolutionary for me—it felt like a secret tome promising fame to anyone who read it.

I *think* I still have it somewhere in my apartment, but to be honest I’m too lazy to track it down to fact check my memory. However, I remember he encouraged writers to post three times a week and to limit posts to three-hundred-or-something words per post. I remember being told lists are the way to go—bullet points and quick hits and whatnot. You want your readers to be returning to you frequently, and they don’t have time to read something lengthy—attention spans are shrinking!

Well, last week I sent you a 3,500 word piece that included sixteen footnotes and referenced six external sources. It is hands down the longest piece I’ve ever written for an online audience, and it required a lot of attention on your part to get through it. Platform would not be happy with me.

But! 55% of you engaged with the piece in some way; that’s actually higher than my normal engagement rate. I was nervous to share a piece that long, but you blew me away with your willingness to sit with me through its complexity.

I believe we lose something in our addiction to speed and to flash. I believe we lose wonder and beauty when we require tl/dr (too long / didn’t read) summaries instead of the totality of the work itself. I believe we heighten our tribalism when we seek controversy in order to get clicks rather than complexity in order to truly understand.

I also believe people are craving things deeper than quick bites; they want words that probe beneath the surface and wrestle with complex ideas. After experiencing a world of speed and flash, we want something more. Something deeper. And I am just so grateful for you and for this space.

So to the readers who read words thoughtfully and intentionally, and to the writers who continually teach me how to seek out nuance: thank you, thank you, thank you.

Confessions of a Substack Writer (Part 2)

First: In 2015, Yvon Chouinard—the founder of Patagonia—made headlines when he told consumers to stop buying clothes they didn’t need, including his own company’s. Patagonia’s website has “A Guide to More Responsible Shopping” that encourages people to shop used—which is in direct conflict with its profit margin. Chouinard and Patagonia did this because, for them, being good stewards of the planet was a larger goal than making money.

Second: Growing up, my mom wouldn’t let me read devotional books that had more commentary than Bible in them. For her, it was more important for me to spend time in the Word than to read what others thought about the Word.

Third: In my piece a month ago about losing subscribers, I wrote these sentences:

Maybe you don’t need to listen to my little toe on the Body of Christ—maybe what you need is in fact some time with the ear or the belly button or the elbow. That’s okay! In fact, that’s beautiful!

I’ve been thinking about that a lot. Rather than just being okay with people unsubscribing, I should encourage people to do it if it means more time spent with God, more time in God’s Word.

In a world of speed and flash, we are conditioned to consume as much as physically possible. But if I believe that slowness and intentionality are antidotes of some sort, I need to also believe that our attention spans are limited and should be used on what is most important. Therefore, I need to hold my writing with open hands, encouraging people to unsubscribe if it means more time spent with God, more time reading words more important for them than my own.

My bottom line should never be subscribers; it should always be faithfulness to Christ. So how do I get my little head out of the morass of my own ambition and into the faithfulness of God?

Another great writer on Substack:

Eva Parker

and her newsletter,

Wherewithal

:

When the World was Quiet

I first encountered Eva and her newsletter through an ambassador program for

Ekstasis

. Each of her pieces is so thoughtfully articulated. Her words have a way of dancing, and this piece—above—is especially poignant for its thoughts on creation and silence. Check out her writing!

Finally, masculinity

I’m in the research phase of my masculinity study, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know! I’m currently reading Wild at Heart because I have to figure out what all the fuss is about.