How Longform Writing Is Becoming Cool Again
We’re not all goldfish with phones
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My Medium friends can read this story over there as well.
Social Media has reduced blogging to short content snacks. 400 words. 700 words. 1000 max.
Readers stand in line at Target, 14% battery left, and scrolling faster than you can say “algorithm.”
That’s our core audience. An online writer’s reader base in the 2020s.
But it’s changing, isn't it?
People are subscribing to long essays.
Paying for them.
Quoting them on social media
Longform is having a comeback. And that’s mainly for one reason: Substack.
Still, It Sucks
Most longform sucks. And I don’t exclude my own stuff here. Longform blogging has glaring issues, most of the time:
It’s too dense.
Too slow.
Too self-important.
Basically rambling in SEO format
If your (or my) opening line sounds like, “Since the dawn of civilization…”, I’ve already opened a new tab.
Longform doesn’t mean boring. It shouldn’t.
It means you’ve got something to say AND you know how to keep me around.
Modern Longform
So what does work? Great question. For me, it’s this:
1. Structure Like a Pro
Longform doesn’t mean endless paragraphs.
It means chapters. Sections. Beats.
Headlines that act like signposts
Lists to break the monotony
A flow that feels like a good podcast, not a Wikipedia entry
If I’m lost halfway through your blog post, I won’t re-read it.
2. Humor. Always.
I don’t care how serious your topic is, if I can’t laugh at least once, I’m probably out. With very few exceptions.
Nobody wants to read 2,000 words from a robot. We’ve got enough of that already. Even before AI.
Just make us laugh.
Example:
“Productivity tips are great until you realize your to-do list has a better social life than you.”
I think. I chuckle. Humor makes it human. It breaks the silence.
3. Skimmability Still Matters
Even in longform. Especially in longform. It’s better to have people skim your article, then come back and read more, than having them click away.
We might commit to reading, but we still skim to decide if it’s worth it.
Make your post scannable:
Bold the punchlines
Keep paragraphs lean
Add space
Drop a one-liner in the middle just to make someone chuckle
Your layout should say, “Hey, this won’t waste your time.”
Why Longform Is Winning Again
It’s not nostalgia. It’s fatigue.
We’re exhausted from hot takes, clickbait, and 60-second nonsense. People want signal, not noise.
They want the good stuff.
Substack is thriving because it gives writers permission to go deep without boring the pants off everyone.
Longform here works because it follows the same rules as shortform:
Clear structure
Reader-friendly layout
A dash of personality
And content that earns its word count
What I Want to accomplish
If it’s not fun to read, it’s not fun to write.
And if it’s not fun to write? You’ll know. Your reader will too. The best longform feels like a conversation. The worst feels like a monologue.
Longform I like
Cold open — Something punchy, weirdly funny, or brutally honest
Why it matters — 2-3 lines, max. Keep me hooked.
The core — Teach me something. Entertain me while doing it.
Lists + Visual structure — Readers need breathers
Personality — Make AI jealous
Close clean — Either drop a mic or keep it short and sweet.
Simple. Repeatable. Scrollable.
Even if you’re writing long, still write tight.
The Bottom Line
Now that newsletters and especially Substack are booming, people are re-learning how to tell a story, make a point, and respect the reader’s attention.
We don’t need more boring content. We need more clarity. More punch. More “Damn, that line stuck with me.”
Longform is cool again.
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Really like the example structure that you shared at the end.
I'll be adapting this to my next post then.
Thanks for sharing, Burk!
I put a heart because I smiled at the title. Then I had to read.