Useful writing tells people something true and important that they didn't already know, and tells them as unequivocally as possible.
Paul Graham • How to Write Usefully
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Useful writing tells people something true and important that they didn't already know, and tells them as unequivocally as possible.
Useful writing is bold, but true.
Paul Graham • How to Write Usefully
As you're writing, how do you know which thoughts are most valuable? What separates good ideas from bad ones?
My approach is to focus on ideas that are interesting or surprising. These are the ingredients of novelty. Novelty is what keeps readers reading. They tend to be:
My approach is to focus on ideas that are interesting or surprising. These are the ingredients of novelty. Novelty is what keeps readers reading. They tend to be:
- Counter-intuitive
- Counter-narrative
- Shock and awe
- Elegant articulations
Julian Shapiro • Writing Well - Part 2 - Writing First Drafts
The way to get novelty is to write about topics you've thought about a lot. Then you can use yourself as a proxy for the reader in this department too. Anything you notice that surprises you, who've thought about the topic a lot, will probably also surprise a significant number of readers. And here, as with correctness and importance, you can use t... See more
Matter
The reason it would matter is that writing is not just a way to convey ideas, but also a way to have them.
A good writer doesn't just think, and then write down what he thought, as a sort of transcript. A good writer will almost always discover new things in the process of writing. And there is, as far as I know, no substitute for this kind of disco... See more
A good writer doesn't just think, and then write down what he thought, as a sort of transcript. A good writer will almost always discover new things in the process of writing. And there is, as far as I know, no substitute for this kind of disco... See more
Paul Graham • The Need to Read
If you’re doubting my assertion that it’s more important to write with an authentic voice than it is to write with an interesting topic in mind, I’d challenge you to write something that means nothing to you at all.