
Ask HN: On Depression and Writing – Would love some feedback on my blog post - Essa
I&#x27;ve written up a blog post about my experiences dealing with and coping with depression.<p>This is my first such blog post, so I would very much appreciate any feedback on the content or my writing.<p>Thank you<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;medium.com&#x2F;@essasaulat&#x2F;on-depression-and-writing-372c0582aca5
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paulcole
Try putting it into:

[http://www.hemingwayapp.com/](http://www.hemingwayapp.com/)

I write/edit blog posts for a living and that's always my first piece of
advice.

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borncrusader
Can't help but notice that this line - "If you see a red highlight, your
sentence is so dense and complicated that your readers will get lost trying to
follow its meandering, splitting logic — try editing this sentence to remove
the red." is shown as red. I don't understand why this is a complicated
sentence. By forcing the writer to split a good line into smaller ones just
because some reader _might_ not be able to follow it is wrong.

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borncrusader
Another sentence I tried - "I wasn't that interested in working on my project
today and hence I preferred to stay at home and watch Netflix in spite of the
multitude of issues reported." is show as very hard! It makes me question if
the original developer of this app has even read good well-known style guides
for the English language.

I'd advice you to read a good style manual to understand more about writing
and how to use words. One doesn't have to forcibly introduce words that are
too complicated. There are good organic ways to write sentences that employ
seemingly complex words in a natural way so that readers can understand quite
well. The goal should be to elevate the users to get better at reading in
addition to conveying your material, IMO.

A good book to read would be Steven Pinker's Sense of Style -
[https://www.amazon.com/Sense-Style-Thinking-Persons-
Writing/...](https://www.amazon.com/Sense-Style-Thinking-Persons-
Writing/dp/0143127799).

One doesn't have to degrade their sentences just because we live in the age of
attention span deterioration and social media. All of these minor tweaks can
help people improve their attention spans by releasing micro dopamine orgasms.

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paulcole
> The goal should be to elevate the users to get better at reading in addition
> to conveying your material, IMO.

Depends on the audience and the purpose of the piece, IMO.

