When I became a communications professional back in 2003, the world was a much different place. Although personal computers had become commonplace and the Internet was running full blast, humanity had not yet been seduced by the sirens that would become known as “social media” and “smart phones.”

It wasn’t far away, though.

Facebook burst onto the scene in around 2005 — iPhones, a couple of years later — and as a result (intentional or not), the collective attention spans of human beings would shrink like a woolen sweater in the hot cycle. Twitter even made this official when it was introduced in 2006 by limiting stories to 140 characters. (In 2017, they very graciously doubled this to the startling, War and Peace-size word count of 280 characters.)

But way back in 2003, people could still handle a magazine feature story of 1,600 words. Heck, they could even read an entire book.

Not so much, now. Long-form reading has taken a back seat to the small blocks of colloquial copy that the world now serves to our tiny, pea-sized attention spans. Written communication has become as disposable as the products — shoes, vehicles, kids’ toys, etc. — that were once made of hearty materials and built by our grandparents to last.

Again, not so much, now.

In keeping with the trends in digital and social communication, the basic writing sessions that used to be mainstays at my communications seminars and many other similar events are getting hard to come by. I get it, and I enjoy social media as much as the next guy. (Maybe not quite as much, but pretty much.) But at the obvious risk of sounding like a typical “Boomer,” I urge you, Younger Communicator: Don’t neglect the craft of writing. Sure, when you head back home, do what you need to do to communicate via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, but also make long-form reading and writing an important part of your daily curriculum.

Start by reading a novel. Y’know, something that by modern standards would be considered excellent. Why? Because it is only by reading that we, as writers, can hope to understand the arc of a story, the development of a character, and sensible development of a plot — all things that are also necessary in writing quality non-fiction articles for our various publications.

If you refuse to read, you can’t expect to write well. It’s as simple as that.