Thou shalt not Plagiarize

I have noticed that people in general have developed a certain manner of writing. I do admit to having similar inclinations but I try my best to steer clear of them because these writing styles don't accurately reflect the way I am really thinking. But people still tend to use them nonetheless; maybe because it's convenient or maybe because it expresses a fleeting feeling. I will elaborate.

First, I should demonstrate what fashion of writing I am referring to. For some time now, I have become aware that people have begun to write in short, succinct sentences. This is especially so when they intend to give a powerful shot of a last one-liner or something like that (these types of sentences also almost always accompany emo-istic posts/writing). So the sentence usually comprises of short, sharp words, simple syntax, which we all think adds emphasis and impact.

So for example, if someone is writing about how much they love music (and it cannot Just be about Loving music in itself, it must also be something about how music has a soul and they look for the deeper meaning in it and the character of the piece and how music moves them and changes them and comes alive etc..), then they might conclude at the end of it all, with a powerful head-banger of a line that says "I love music that lives (in italics of course), that burns (more italics)". OR. If someone is writing about say, friendship. Then they might proceed to say something like "Friends that last. They're the ones worth keeping." Or Something.

I do not know where on earth we got the idea that sentences like these are in any way emphatic. I mean, yes, they provide for a prosaic break, what with the short, chopped up sentences, replacing commas with full-stops etc. But, I do believe much of this genre of writing has been imperceptibly copied from novel writers/ authors? You know how these authors deliver their life-shattering one-liners at the end of a riveting chapter or book and you sit there stunned and have to think for a while?

Well the mass population has decided that they too can emulate this life-changing style of writing in their everyday blog posts. So they copy it. And they think they're being wholly different from everyone else and terribly inspiring when they drop a bombshell of a sentence like that at the end of a very elegiac piece of writing (don't lie, I know you all do think that, me included. Maybe not overtly but subtly, YES.). Maybe we do it without even realizing it, maybe that's the way we really express ourselves and I'm not saying anyone is in the wrong. Truthfully, I hate always having to qualify myself when I write in my blog like this. I would just say it as it is if I had my way. But I'm not interested in being misinterpreted, so to save time and trouble I might as well add a disclaimer to every sentence.

In conclusion, I am starting to find this style-plagiarizing rather annoying. I would much prefer it if people just wrote off the top of their heads and I am quite sure people think in more convoluted sentences. It's especially dangerous when people get into one of those funks where they're just pensive and reflective and vulnerable to writing like that because they think it's reflective of a contemplative mood.

It would be foolish of me to think I'd be able to change the way people write just by posting my thoughts on this. But hopefully it does create some self awareness and everyone has the right to decide for themselves if that's the case with them or if I'm just spouting a load of gibberish.

Goodnight!