Get to the point already!

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And sometimes, even when from the start I think I know what I want to write in a column, I find that I've reached what seems to be the end and I discover that I've barely used my notes but that instead I've tangented myself again and again in directions that more than clarifying things instead led me (and any reader who stayed with me) astray. Of course in a hypertext environment that's not only legitimate, it's even predictable. But there are different sorts of tangents. Some expand on the central idea being examined, some offer different perspectives from the dominant one in the main text, and others can even contradict that dominant perspective. But there are yet others that don't directly connect to that central idea, but instead expand the main text in what might be called personal directions - the wide assortment of associations that (I hope) make a Boidem column at least somewhat distinct from so many other web pages that attempt to examine similar topics. I view these associations as a positive aspect of these columns, but I'm also well aware of the fact that they sometimes outweigh what should normally be considered the more objective tangents, and that of late those sometimes have been a bit too frequent.

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Go to: How to write a Boidem column.