When we were first introduced to argumentative writing in school, it didn't take me too long to discover that I had a flair for it. Introduction, point-substantiation, rebuttal, conclusion - I lived and breathed it all.
Back then I had a penchant for uninterrupted smooth-flowing prose - long sentences designed to display an extensive vocabulary, occasionally interrupted by a dash of punctuation melding into the next.
Over the years, this has subtly changed. Elegant as it is, that style detracts from the purpose of the essay: to clearly communicate your points as forcefully as possible.
Greg Mankiw was my inspiration here, especially his guide on How To Write Well. His posts are but a few paragraphs, but each carefully crafted word carries tremendous weight.
Now I continually distill my thoughts before committing them, often over multiple iterations. It's become a game of sorts - to express a point using a minimum of words, while still remaining comprehensible.
Occasionally I turn the game on its head, filtering my audience by providing just enough information that only the nuanced will understand. Language is fun that way.
I'm surprised by how many multi-page essays bloggers still churn out these days. (To be fair, I was guilty once.) No one has time for that.
But the antithesis of Mankiw's writing is what I call Faux Zen: style without substance.
It's amazing how much one can write without actually saying anything. Sure, there's a ton of emotive imagery embedded in the narrative, but to what end? Most of it is just literary masturbation. No one really gives a shit about how the sun is a golden apron pushing between your thighs.
There are no arguments proferred, no evidence presented, just a single continuous narrative that drones on and on.
And that is the crux of it all - by choosing to highlight a personal perspective, the narrative conveniently avoids an informed analysis of the whole. Selected facts are offered to the reader in a vague appeal to emotion. The verbosity of the piece disorients and confuses readers, leaving them vulnerable.
The veil of emotion is so heavy precisely because there is nothing under it. Faux zen.
