[vlad]

When I originally wrote the article, I was using the word stuff — but stuff is such a boring word. It's got a lag to it. Ditto other options, like things and work and product. Shit, on the other hand, is a very pointed, quick word.

There is no generic word, offensive or not, worth repeating one hundred times in a short essay.

[krschultz]

Exactly. "Shit" doesn't offend me as word. Trying to find the authors point through the mindless repetition of any word is a chore. If "Shit" was replaced with "Stuff" it would still be a horrendous post.

Example:

"That doesn’t mean the [stuff] you don’t get isn’t great, and it doesn’t make you less of a [stuff]maker not to get it. Just know that if you don’t get [stuff], you’ve still got something to learn, and that oftentimes it’s worth taking time to find somebody enthusiastic enough about [stuff] to explain what about it he’s into. (This is called teaching. As a kid you were taught that teaching had to do with seating assignments, but that was wrong. Teaching is knowing enough about [stuff] both to like it and to make other people like it.)"

If you use "is", "good", "stuff", or "things" more often than once per paragraph, you are not communicating clearly. That is true whether you use the word intentionally or not. Since you used it so often intentionally it means you forced the word into places where there are better words that could have been used, detracting even further.

Swearing doesn't instantly lead to good writing, it almost always leads to bad writing.

And to say that since you are making a general point you must use general words a fallacy. You can be quite specific in word choice while still making a general point.

[unalone]

Isn't that exactly what I said? I wrote originally with stuff and decided it didn't work. I pared it down and switched the word and it worked.

> If you use "is", "good", "stuff", or "things" more often than once per paragraph, you are not communicating clearly.

Right, if that's happening unintentionally. I'm baffled by the assumption that I just accidentally wrote the word shit a hundred times. It's not like I think swearing leads instantly to good writing.

In this case, though, the central point of the post is that we're not talking about a guide to doing X/Y/Z. This is something that's applicable for virtually everything. The repetition is intended to drive that point.

[unalone]

It was used once for every sixteen words. That means it was used less than once a sentence. If I was unintentionally saturating the essay, I'd agree with you that my style needs some fixing, but it was a deliberate choice and it wasn't overdone for what it aimed to be.

Obviously we're going to disagree over whether it was overdone. That's subjective. I've seen a lot of positive response to this and surprisingly little negative. I'm fine with the response I'm getting overall.

As for offensive: It's the word "shit". I'm not using it in an offensive way. I didn't write "How to shit great". I used it as a generic placeholder. Is it offensive just because it's a swear word? Because here I thought we were more mature than to get prissy over naughty language, particularly when it's not attempting to evoke naughty imagery.

[dsplittgerber]

If you wanted to emphasize the message instead of your stylistic means, you could have lessened the obtrusiveness of your style. By not doing so, I think you are rightfully criticized for style, when it should have been about the message.

[unalone]

I'm fine with being criticized — best way to learn to do better. I just resented the suggestions that I didn't know what I was doing. If I deliberately fuck up, I'll take my punches, but the comments implying I somehow accidentally used "shit" that many times kind of irritated me.