cutting into the issue like a surgeon fr. i love seeing non-capitalized essays and fiction, and that’s how i text and email. but i write with traditional capitalization in my fiction because i like it. people rlly trying to make everything into a class/moral issue. that being said, i think non-traditional capitalization and spelling are the future of literature.
i think that i may be immune to it as a 2000 baby that grew up on tumblr then was heavy in the minimalistic aesthetic. i don’t think there’s much to it aside from personal writing style. we aren’t trying to subliminally brainwash anyone or anything LOL
If somebody wants to write essays in all lowercase, they should be left alone. If somebody doesn’t want to read those essays because it gives them a headache, they should be left alone.
What’s most annoying is having my motives ventriloquised by critics. If you don’t read my essay because it’s poorly formatted, fine, but why foist unflattering motives onto me? I must be doing this or that because I think so and so. This is rarely if ever supported by anything.
Look, as a loner book nerd who did a bachelors in Chemical Engineering just for fun before my Masters in Journalism (lol but true), most of this discourse just reads like “hey, Substack is for nerds and we were all feeling popular in here before the cool girls came along. And! And! You’re breaking the rules!”
Cool kids will always do things nerds don’t understand and nerds will get upset/angry about it. The masses will always think the cool kids are cool for it, and the nerds will attempt to put them down for it - and it won’t work. (Cue meme of Regina walking out of the bathroom with boob holes cut in her singlet and everyone wearing boob-hole-singlets a week later.)
There’s space for it all on the internet - and that’s kind of the point. The internet is the great equaliser. Read your lower case diary entries from some stranger 1000 miles away about how Tide changing their dishwasher tablet colour from blue to yellow reinvigorated their passion for their high school boyfriend or some shit (not for me) or read about the fucked up real world and why no one is doing anything about it (for me). Who cares?
It reminds me of a really great post I read on here a while ago about how writers are annoyed either way; if our writing bombs, we’re angry no one understands us. If our writing goes viral, we’re worried the masses couldn’t possibly understand the true meaning of our writing 🤣
loved this nuanced take and worthwhile entry into the discourse. Schembri Gray's post was especially funny to me because Julia Hava doesn't publish writing and has never been on Substack at all. <3
I haven't been on here enough this week to have realized people were arguing about this, but I have noticed a lot of all-lowercase essays recently. I don't think there's anything wrong with using all lowercase, but I tend to avoid reading them because I usually assume they'll read more like a social media post or personal note--which can be very well-written but just aren't what I'm looking to read. I feel like the all lowercase signifies a certain style more than anything else.
I feel similar - I do like the lowercase essays I have read but I naturally gravitate towards the more regular ones purely because I'm used to reading them more easily!
cutting into the issue like a surgeon fr. i love seeing non-capitalized essays and fiction, and that’s how i text and email. but i write with traditional capitalization in my fiction because i like it. people rlly trying to make everything into a class/moral issue. that being said, i think non-traditional capitalization and spelling are the future of literature.
ty! Honestly same, I really like them but it’s not always my style n that’s ok, I think there’s a. lot of refusal to move with the times going around
ya the cycle
beautifully written. honestly, i can’t believe people’s choice to not capitalize is shaking the table for some.
i'm glad you enjoyed it! it's honestly a balance of like 'should we read so much into this' and 'actually there's something weird going on' hahaha
i think that i may be immune to it as a 2000 baby that grew up on tumblr then was heavy in the minimalistic aesthetic. i don’t think there’s much to it aside from personal writing style. we aren’t trying to subliminally brainwash anyone or anything LOL
If somebody wants to write essays in all lowercase, they should be left alone. If somebody doesn’t want to read those essays because it gives them a headache, they should be left alone.
What’s most annoying is having my motives ventriloquised by critics. If you don’t read my essay because it’s poorly formatted, fine, but why foist unflattering motives onto me? I must be doing this or that because I think so and so. This is rarely if ever supported by anything.
Look, as a loner book nerd who did a bachelors in Chemical Engineering just for fun before my Masters in Journalism (lol but true), most of this discourse just reads like “hey, Substack is for nerds and we were all feeling popular in here before the cool girls came along. And! And! You’re breaking the rules!”
Cool kids will always do things nerds don’t understand and nerds will get upset/angry about it. The masses will always think the cool kids are cool for it, and the nerds will attempt to put them down for it - and it won’t work. (Cue meme of Regina walking out of the bathroom with boob holes cut in her singlet and everyone wearing boob-hole-singlets a week later.)
There’s space for it all on the internet - and that’s kind of the point. The internet is the great equaliser. Read your lower case diary entries from some stranger 1000 miles away about how Tide changing their dishwasher tablet colour from blue to yellow reinvigorated their passion for their high school boyfriend or some shit (not for me) or read about the fucked up real world and why no one is doing anything about it (for me). Who cares?
It reminds me of a really great post I read on here a while ago about how writers are annoyed either way; if our writing bombs, we’re angry no one understands us. If our writing goes viral, we’re worried the masses couldn’t possibly understand the true meaning of our writing 🤣
100% and i feel like resenting people for their ability to be popular will never not come off bitter lmao like it's very high school
loved this nuanced take and worthwhile entry into the discourse. Schembri Gray's post was especially funny to me because Julia Hava doesn't publish writing and has never been on Substack at all. <3
so glad you enjoyed! and yes i was very confused about that haha had to do lots of googling
I haven't been on here enough this week to have realized people were arguing about this, but I have noticed a lot of all-lowercase essays recently. I don't think there's anything wrong with using all lowercase, but I tend to avoid reading them because I usually assume they'll read more like a social media post or personal note--which can be very well-written but just aren't what I'm looking to read. I feel like the all lowercase signifies a certain style more than anything else.
I feel similar - I do like the lowercase essays I have read but I naturally gravitate towards the more regular ones purely because I'm used to reading them more easily!