#mara rambles

We have seven days in a week because waaaay back in ancient times, folks observed seven ‘stars’ that didn’t move the same way all the others did.

We have 60 minutes to an hour because the ancient folk who decided had a base-60 number system and it Stuck

Our concept of ‘seasons’ is rooted to the way certain parts of the world experience Climate (and the imperialism that then went and projected that vibe around)

Even things like ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ are messy, when you start thinking about how different places get different amounts of sun at different times of the year

and not every culture counts the same number of Fundamental Colors

And then “Maps” as we know them are relatively modern inventions. Once upon a time, it was a lot more feasible to just list out landmarks and turnings (literally: an itinerary)

‘taking baths’ requires access to large amounts of water, and folks without that luxury have a different approach to hygiene

And characters in a world without a printing press (+ the invention of standardized spelling) would have a much harder time actually learning to read

But honestly I think it’s just as valuable to read the terrible stuff so you can study what NOT to do

Because. like. The thing about Good Writing is that it becomes invisible. Elegant prose disappears completely behind the ideas being expressed — so it can be difficult for someone who’s trying to learn to tease out how, why and to what end a particular technique functions. It’s easy to get so swept up in the Experience that you forget to see the actual words

‘Bad’ writing, on the other hand, does not have this problem. The reader’s flow state does not get conjured. When something takes you out of a narrative, you NOTICE.

Bringing this up here because I saw this post on Bsky talking about the matter.

here's some screenshots of their post incase you can't view it

I'm not sure how well Ko-fi will listen, but for what it's worth you can give them an ear full on their survey page? https://ko-fi.com/survey