The Three Types of Writing

At the top of every creative log are two prompts—“For others” and “For me”—where I articulate the purpose of the writing.138 Filling these in helps me determine the writing’s fate, so I try to be as honest as possible. No answer is off limits. No reason too egoic. “Wanting to better understand my thinking” and “Wanting to better position myself as

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You should write because when you know that you’re going to write, it changes the way you live. I’m thinking about a book I read called Field Notes on Science & Nature , a collection of essays by scientists about their notes. It’s hard to imagine a more tedious concept — a book of essays about notes ? — but in execution it was wonderful. What i... See more