After browsing through several articles and various authors on Slate, I found one author whose articles caught my attention repeatedly. His name is William Saletan, and he writes in the “Human Nature” section of Slate. Saletan draws attention to major issues that concern everyone. He writes articles concerning drugs, abortion, race, and health-related issues. He intrigues his readers with a characteristically creative style of writing. Articles such as “Fecal Fuel” address claims that “city officials soon plan to introduce buses that run on biofuels extracted from human waste.” Here, Saletan delves into the statistics of one person’s waste potential and the advantages of using human waste as fuel.

Not only does he draw interest by addressing prominent issues, but he also draws interest by limiting the length of his writing to one-two pages—showing the importance of brevity. The length of his articles forces Saletan to make his point succinctly, which pleases readers who would rather not read long articles on the web.

Additionally, Saletan’s writing style remains consistent with this. He writes using short, active sentences that provide enough detail to keep the reader’s attention: “To me, Tiller was brave. His work makes me want to puke. But so does combat, the kind where guts are spilled and people choke on their own blood. I like to think I love my country and would fight for it. But I doubt I have the stomach to pull the trigger, much less put my life on the line.” (from “Is it wrong to murder an abortionist?”) His writing also allows readers to browse efficiently by keeping his sentences and paragraphs short. This provides plenty of white space allowing readers to skim through the information easily.

Saletan’s writing style also evokes emotions in his reader’s by raising many questions. In “Vapor War: Our irrational hostility to electronic cigarettes,” he questions the general public’s resistance to electronic cigarettes. He surmises that our cultural consensus against cigarettes (no matter what kind) taints our perception of these carcinogen-free “cigarettes.” As such Saletan states, “Let's be blunt about what's going on here. We tolerated smoking until science proved it was harmful to nonsmokers. ..Electronic cigarettes have removed the war's scientific basis, but our cultural revulsion persists. Therefore, so does our prohibition and condemnation.” At the end of this article, he forces reader’s to question their stance on artificial cigarettes as a result of cultural influence or personal opinion.

Overall, Saletan provides information to online-readers in a direct and enthralling manner. He maintains his reader’s attention by using a concise and easily understood writing style.