A place to put things down

I wanted one page for the writing that does not fit anywhere else. A line copied out of a book. A thought that is too long for a message. An account of something that happened, written out at the length it actually needs.

This is that page. A list of pieces, then the piece. The type sits in a narrow column.

Three kinds of piece

A note is short. A few paragraphs, written when the thought showed up, left at that length.

A quote is someone else's sentence. Their name goes with it, and the book or the essay it came from, so the line can be found again without hunting through underlines. The words stay theirs.

An essay is the long form. An experience, an argument, or a subject I want to be able to reread in a year and still follow.

A piece should be worth rereading. If it is not, it does not belong here.

Why the longer ones exist

Most of what gets written in the middle of a day is a reply. It makes sense next to the message it answers, and then the thread moves on. A longer piece has to stand on its own. It needs a title, a beginning, and an ending.

That is what an essay is for here. A note can stay a note. A quotation can be a post by itself. Neither has to be stretched until it looks finished.

This first one is the introduction. The rest will be the actual writing.