The Global Exclaimer Writing Manifesto
A Few Words About the Words You Are About to Read
I do not write to perform, soothe, or sell. I write because the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty still matters. I write because language, handled with care and purpose, can reveal what lies buried beneath distraction and noise. I believe the best conversations begin not with answers, but with an honest question and a willingness to follow it wherever it leads.
The tone here is not fixed. Some pieces are playful. Others press into discomfort. A few do both. I will not always tie everything up. Loose ends serve a purpose. They invite reflection, not closure. Some thoughts are meant to be carried a while.
What I Believe About Writing
1. While the reader may, in fact, be a customer, treating them like one is a mistake.
If you’ve read something here and bothered to return, I assume you are the sort of reader who can engage complex subjects without needing them reduced to slogans or smoothed into certainty. My goal is not merely to entertain; it is to engage. I do not want to put out “content.” I want to have a conversation: a conversation between people who care about meaning and are willing to expend the energy required to find it.
2. Punctuation reveals intent.
The em dash, once a rare stylistic gesture, has become the ketchup of modern writing. I prefer punctuation that carries meaning: the colon prepares, the semicolon connects, the parenthesis suggests. These marks do not coddle. They clarify.
3. This is not nostalgia. It is criticism.
Pull a Navy Bluejackets Manual from a century ago. Or the first Boy Scout Handbook. Read a few pages. The language is rich, the expectations are high, and the tone is serious. Those books assumed young men were capable of becoming responsible adults. They trained them accordingly. Today’s instructional writing is often condescending, emotionally padded, and syntactically flat. Reading used to be part of formation. Now it is about consumption. That shift has consequences.
4. Style should serve substance.
I use irony, wit, sarcasm, and the occasional ridiculous image. But never as a substitute for meaning. These are not decorations. They are tools—used in service of clarity, provocation, and sometimes, joy. The goal is not entertainment without consequence. The goal is to speak clearly, and sometimes sharply, about things that matter.
Who This Is For
This is for readers who do not panic at complexity. For those who understand that disagreement is not disrespect. For anyone who believes that truth is worth seeking, even when it is elusive, even when it is costly. I also write for myself, to test what I believe and to sharpen what I think. If you are still reading, welcome. We may not always agree. That is, in fact, the point.
You hit the nail on the head, repeatedly. Thank you for succinctly articulating your reason for writing and encouraging discourse. It is a pleasure to read your posts: whimsical, thought-provoking, or both. The laser-squirrels are still being discussed in my little circle. May you have days filled with meaningful conversations and correctly used punctuation; although, I cannot promise either (every time). Your posts will be my whetting stone.