I really enjoyed reading your response, Eric! Thanks for putting such thought into your reply.

I can’t authentically disagree with anything you have said here, especially insofar as the issues you raise are those about which I have also spent a lot of time thinking.

You’re correct to suggest (as is Aryn) that many readers are “hungry” for easily digestible pieces of content from which they can extract a few takeaway ideas and/or strategies and then apply to their own lives.

On the one hand, I enjoy producing lengthy, sophisticated, and intellectually demanding essays.

On the other, I understand — or rather I suspect — that the “average Internet user”, if there is such a thing, won’t willingly give such lengthy articles the time they require to read and digest.

Like any other content creator who works on very lengthy projects, I could:

• Continue as is, i.e., make no changes at all to my approach;
• Intentionally write shorter content;
• Split long articles into four or five short pieces each (“part 1”, “part 2”, etc.); and/or
• Rely on other platforms and formats (e.g., audio and video) to deliver more condensed types of content.

I’m still trying to determine the best strategy(ies) to take now and into the future.

I do recognize the value of writing for a specific audience and constantly trying to “niche down” but, at the same time, I don’t want to limit the exposure of my content by creating stuff that people simply can’t be bothered to read.

By the way, I suspect, as you suggest, that perfectionism is indeed a personality trait that many writers possess, and one with which they constantly grapple and try to “tame”. I certainly fall into this camp, so to speak. I’m trying more and more these days to accept the principle that finished is better than perfect — it’s not easy, though.