Fred Wemyss

Since I can't indent on my blog I'm going to do as Daniel Defoe, at least as he is represented in the Norton Critical Edition of MOLL FLANDERS, by refusing to indent. From now on, my essays and stories will each come in a solid block. The only clue the reader will have as to which character is talking will be such indicators as direct attribution and the sense of the wording. An example of paragraphless dialogue is: "Harry, where are we?" "I'm not sure, Larry." I bet you can guess which character said which sentence. Larry said the first sentence and Harry said the second one, that is, Larry said, "Harry, where are we?" and Harry said, "I'm not sure, Larry." MOLL FLANDERS is like that. You get very nervous reading MOLL FLANDERS. Of course, if you have no sense of paragraphing, reading MOLL FLANDERS won't make you nervous, but who would even attempt to read such a book as MOLL FLANDERS who hasn't been raised reading books and stories featuring indentation? Everybody, therefore, gets claustrophobic reading MOLL FLANDERS. Reading a novel which is one three-hundred-forty-eight-page paragraph is like driving on a bridge with no guard-rail. Subtract the element of fear in the latter case and it is similar to reading a single-paragraphed novel in that one is wondering how much more of it he can take. Even though the driver and the reader both know it will end, the feeling of something irreversible happening informs the undertaking. Three-quarters of the way across the bridge you're wondering if you're going to make one false move and go skittering off the edge into the rocks below. Three-quarters of the way through a one-paragraph epic you're saying, "My god, this is one giant paragraph!" It's a lot more horrifying than you might believe. I know I'm not alone. I read MOLL FLANDERS in my Junior year of college and mentioned it to my brother. He said, "Wasn't it disturbing?" "Not the content," I said, and then we both said, "It's one paragraph." We had been traumatized. But, inasmuch as I haven't been able to make a blog entry which retains the indentations I put in it before posting, I'm surrendering to the technology. There will be no spaces between divergent thoughts. Spaces merely imply that something is "Part One" and the next thing is "Part Two." Spaces don't come up to the snuff of indentation. One solid paragraph will be my boat down the river Net.