added by Tom White · updated 2y ago
Opinion | If You Have Something to Say, Then Say It (Published 2021)
- One of my favorite lines from Walter Ong's classic book, Orality and Literacy, is "Writing heightens consciousness." I think that applies to what you're describing about the nature of conversation. Writing, that is externalizing thought in this quasi permanent symbolic way, makes us more aware of its nature and possibilities than the exchange of ev... See more
from L.M. Sacasas on Instant Messenger Over Instant Messenger by Uri Bram
sari added
- Putting ideas into words doesn't have to mean writing, of course. You can also do it the old way, by talking. But in my experience, writing is the stricter test. You have to commit to a single, optimal sequence of words. Less can go unsaid when you don't have tone of voice to carry meaning. And you can focus in a way that would seem excessive in co... See more
from Putting Ideas Into Words by [
sari and added
"The difference between how people communicate in the internet era: Is your informal writing oriented towards the set of norms belonging to the online world or the offline one?"
p.110
from Because Internet by Weston Public Library
Ben Percifield added
sari and added
- Text allows for the ultimate kind of selectivity: your constraint is not the sounds and sights of your actual life, but the depth of your imagination. When you share about your life over personal essays, you can hide your facial expressions and body language, your tone of voice. You can project decisiveness, self-assurance, and whatever else you wo... See more
from The parasocial friends you'll never meet by Kasra
Alex Dobrenko added
sari and added
- Of course, fancy writing doesn't just conceal ideas. It can also conceal the lack of them. That's why some people write that way, to conceal the fact that they have nothing to say. Whereas writing simply keeps you honest. If you say nothing simply, it will be obvious to everyone, including you.
from Write Simply by Paul Graham
sari added
Talking or writing about the things you're interested in is a good way to generate new ideas. When you try to put ideas into words, a missing idea creates a sort of vacuum that draws it out of you. Indeed, there's a kind of thinking that can only be done by writing.
from How to Do Great Work
Abhilash Rao and added