3 ms·

I like the storytelling, but the sentences without caps are pretty hard for me to parse. The constant search for the beginning of the next sentence destroys the

I like the storytelling, but the sentences without caps are pretty hard for me to parse. The constant search for the beginning of the next sentence destroys the emotional experience for me; I just can't dive into the text and feel "submerged".

rjdj377dhabsn 11mo ago
Agreed. I normally find the complaints about formatting to be petty, but for a long form writing piece like this, all lowercase is just a bad choice with no discernable upside.
- mierz00 11mo ago
  I’ve come to love this style of writing. While not quite the same, Tim Winton’s Cloud Street felt similar. Just raw thoughts, no rules.
  - inglor_cz 11mo ago
    They still respect writing rules, in fact - except for the capitalizations. If they wrote, say, phonetically instead, the text would become utterly unreadable, even though the raw thoughts in one's head aren't expressed in written English.
  - nkrisc 11mo ago
    Capitalization would not change the content at all, but would make it easier to read. People reading English have expectations are capitalization. Breaking those expectations makes the text more difficult to read and feel less effortless.
    - mierz00 11mo ago
      It’s a stylistic choice, it doesn’t have to cater to peoples expectations.
      - nkrisc 11mo ago
        Sure, it doesn’t have to. But it will affect ease of reading for most readers who are accustomed to more “standard” written English.
xandrius 11mo ago
Yep, I find that stylistic writing choice to be rather selfish. It might be because I'm a gamedev at heart but a huge part of writing is UX: sure you have something to say but the way you say it for the reader to actually go through all of it is almost as important. That's why I think shortish chapters are good UX, instead of a single unbroken one. Using a good font, making use of paragraphs to divide sections and using caps whenever required. I personally think if a writer doesn't care to even add a bunch capitalisation to make my life easier then I assume that piece of writing is mainly for themselves and I immediately stop reading, since it's not meant for me but for them.
skylurk 11mo ago
Here's another piece of writing, from a very different author, with lots of capitals. Maybe you like it more? https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thi...
- inglor_cz 11mo ago
  I like Emily Dickinson, actually. Poetry works in a different way, though. The lines are short and your eyes won't struggle much with continuity. e.e.cummings eschewed capitalizations as well and his poetry is still easily readable (to me at least). A larger block of text is harder to parse without capitalizations. This is actually why they developed in the first place. Original Roman writing was very "blocky" and thus much harder to read, see for example this: https://share.google/EyVZfHb9NgIbtXlAl https://share.google/EyVZfHb9NgIbtXlAl It is a short text, but parsing it into individual words is quite a challenge.
  - skylurk 11mo ago
    Hmm I see your point, though to be fair, that Roman writing is also missing spacing and punctuation. My guess is the author knows what they are doing and is intentionally reinforcing the disoriented and unsettled feeling. Or, at least, is intentionally making no effort to mitigate it. (In many other posts, capitalisation rules are followed.)

rjdj377dhabsn 11mo ago

Agreed. I normally find the complaints about formatting to be petty, but for a long form writing piece like this, all lowercase is just a bad choice with no discernable upside.

mierz00 11mo ago
I’ve come to love this style of writing. While not quite the same, Tim Winton’s Cloud Street felt similar. Just raw thoughts, no rules.
- inglor_cz 11mo ago
  They still respect writing rules, in fact - except for the capitalizations. If they wrote, say, phonetically instead, the text would become utterly unreadable, even though the raw thoughts in one's head aren't expressed in written English.
- nkrisc 11mo ago
  Capitalization would not change the content at all, but would make it easier to read. People reading English have expectations are capitalization. Breaking those expectations makes the text more difficult to read and feel less effortless.
  - mierz00 11mo ago
    It’s a stylistic choice, it doesn’t have to cater to peoples expectations.
    - nkrisc 11mo ago
      Sure, it doesn’t have to. But it will affect ease of reading for most readers who are accustomed to more “standard” written English.

xandrius 11mo ago

Yep, I find that stylistic writing choice to be rather selfish. It might be because I'm a gamedev at heart but a huge part of writing is UX: sure you have something to say but the way you say it for the reader to actually go through all of it is almost as important. That's why I think shortish chapters are good UX, instead of a single unbroken one. Using a good font, making use of paragraphs to divide sections and using caps whenever required. I personally think if a writer doesn't care to even add a bunch capitalisation to make my life easier then I assume that piece of writing is mainly for themselves and I immediately stop reading, since it's not meant for me but for them.

skylurk 11mo ago

Here's another piece of writing, from a very different author, with lots of capitals. Maybe you like it more? https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thi...

inglor_cz 11mo ago
I like Emily Dickinson, actually. Poetry works in a different way, though. The lines are short and your eyes won't struggle much with continuity. e.e.cummings eschewed capitalizations as well and his poetry is still easily readable (to me at least). A larger block of text is harder to parse without capitalizations. This is actually why they developed in the first place. Original Roman writing was very "blocky" and thus much harder to read, see for example this: https://share.google/EyVZfHb9NgIbtXlAl https://share.google/EyVZfHb9NgIbtXlAl It is a short text, but parsing it into individual words is quite a challenge.
- skylurk 11mo ago
  Hmm I see your point, though to be fair, that Roman writing is also missing spacing and punctuation. My guess is the author knows what they are doing and is intentionally reinforcing the disoriented and unsettled feeling. Or, at least, is intentionally making no effort to mitigate it. (In many other posts, capitalisation rules are followed.)