Since the so-called election last November,  I have spent a lot of time brainstorming with and learning from like minds on Twitter. It’s an intense place. I chose to follow smart people, all of them as desperate as I am to save our country and the world. Clicking into Twitter feels like entering a cave I have painted with small bright screens, covering the walls and ceiling, each one dripping the concentrated thoughts of a mind that interests me. It’s an ironically private experience of public matters.

The 140-or-less-character tweet became my daily writing practice. As my Twitter skills and tools developed, my tweets grew sharper and deeper. To see what I mean, visit: @merileedkarr

The form requires finding just the right bon mot to carry a point home, cutting out any word that isn’t carrying its weight, and thinking really carefully about exactly what it is you’re trying to say.

I found myself writing an essay in stanzas, or tweets, about the fatal failings of our Constitution. It will be the next blog post, immediately following this one. I am no legal scholar, but I am an investigative historian.