From space hoppers to space hoggers

Woodseats, Sheffield, S8

In the 1970s we had space hoppers. Now we have space hoggers, a name I suspect will be allocated to people like me who submit lengthy letters. Poor Cyril Olsen has already been taken to task by previous correspondents, (incidentally, many thanks to him for expressing appreciation for my letter about Magid, 'He may not survive his year in office, July 2018), and I'm anticipating me being next, so I'm gonna get in there first!

Firstly, I don't think any of us are selfish people who intend to monopolise or dominate these pages to impart long-winded 'essays' to a weary audience.

Secondly, some subjects are complex and can't be covered in a few paragraphs. 

They don't lend themselves to 'sound bites' or whatever the contemporary word is for letters that are short and to the point.

If you try to shorten a letter, in some cases you could end up omitting some very important and relevant points, then the whole thrust of your letter has been lost.

Also, we're all individuals and some have more to say than others.

If people get bored by what looks to them like a magnum opus, then the remedy is simple, just don't read any further, move on to the next letter.

It's not rocket science.

So if Mr Olsen or anyone else wants to write long letters and can't find any workable means of making them more concise, then I'd say, don't hold back, and write on! 

Let the editing team make the decisions on allocating space. 

If they are prepared to print a letter in its entirety, then clearly they're in agreement that some parts of the letter can't be feasibly omitted.

Hey, this is the shortest letter I've written in ages. 

I must be losing my touch!