on writing
Ideas come from noticing gaps in what we believe is established thinking.
Is writing just writing, or is writing also thinking? In the future, if many of us resort to AI to write, we may be left with people who can’t write at all—which may mean we may lose a generation capable of thinking, too.
The mathematical genius Alexander Grothendieck once had a metaphor for solving problems. He suggested that instead of forcing open an impossibly hard kernel with a hammer and chisel, one should simply let it sit in water and wait. Over time, the shell softens and opens with ease. This is also true in writing; time is the only non-substitutable ingr... See more
Epiphanies Come From Waiting
Good writing is meditative writing. It’s a polished and cohesive train of thought, devoid of superfluous babble. If intrusive thoughts make their way into your writing and you neglect to edit them out, your work will suffer. Quality writing does not arise from a stream of consciousness or absent-mindedness. It’s a practice of meditating on a specif... See more
Jen Hitze • Attention, Distraction, and Your Responsibility
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