I have read articles in which after there are more than a handful of comments, some of those commenting don't bother reading the articles, they simply write their own article disguised as comments, often, which are longer, by far than the articles. Soon the comments are fueling arguments that sometimes stray far from the writer's article and have a life of their own which have more to do with dueling egos than brief comments. Sometime people avoid reading any of the comments and sometimes they avoid reading the articles if they scroll down and see long comments. Some people stop in to read a few articles not a few encyclopedic books! I have three solutions to this dilemma: 1)- Cap comments at 750 words. I like this less than the next two.
2)- When a person is writing their comment offline, if it rises above 750 words, instead, make it your own article. Then in the comment box where you were going to place the tome, make a link to the longer than 750 word comment, which is now, instead, your own article. I hate it when the comments are longer than the articles-anyone's articles. 3)- Two writers who obviously are diametrically opposed to each others ideas, or even those who sometimes agree and sometimes do not or two who agree on almost anything, should hook up via email or message like long distance chess players and write a joint debate article. For instance, I would offer to Bill Epler that we team up on an article, since we seem to agree on most things we each write. I feel unPC today, since this woman cut me off on the way to breakfast. I hate beiing cutoff before breaklfast, so, thereforeI dedicate the next two lines to the great looking blonde who cut me off and then flirted with me: RE: Writers can send the manuscript * back and forth until both are satisfied, or they can, once we pass the law legalizing dueling, duel with words! *(Hey ladies how sexist is MANuscript, I'll bet some of you gals would like to have it be WOMANuscript, no?PS: if you are a great looking blonde who likes to cut other drivers off, and then flirt with them, I'll forgive you if you buy me breakfast.
OOPS! Actually that was my wife who cut me off this AM! OOPS, I think I forgot to throw out the garbage last night. Oh, Oh, this may mean I am grounded. How does it look for a 6'-3", 225 pound athlete, to be grounded by a svelt, 5'-8" inch, 120 pound blonde, runway model? .
