the art of writing
advice from writers, and more on writing
Brie Wolfson and
the art of writing
INTERVIEWER: As your experience about writing accrues, what would you say increases with knowledge?
BALDWIN: You learn how little you know. It becomes much more difficult because the hardest thing in the world is simplicity. And the most fearful thing, too. It becomes more difficult because you have to strip yourself of all your disguises, some of... See more
BALDWIN: You learn how little you know. It becomes much more difficult because the hardest thing in the world is simplicity. And the most fearful thing, too. It becomes more difficult because you have to strip yourself of all your disguises, some of... See more
Cynthia Haven • James Baldwin: “You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal.”
Writing gave words permanence. Typewriters reduced the friction between having a thought and transferring it onto a page. Computers reduced the cost of editing thoughts after you typed them. The internet made it possible to send your words anywhere, instantly, for zero cost. And now AI will help you think through ideas more completely as you type... See more
Every • Writing with Machines
Needless to say, my ability in English composition didn’t amount to much. My vocabulary was severely limited, as was my command of English syntax. I could only write in simple, short sentences. That meant that, however complex and numerous the thoughts running around my head might be, I couldn’t even attempt to set them down as they came to me. The... See more
Haruki Murakami: The Moment I Became a Novelist
On writing – a beautiful hack between languages for unlocking simplicity and style
If you want to know why writing is so hard for people, ask them: “When was the last time you focused on one thing for more than an hour, without any distractions?”
A lack of focus is as limiting as a lack of skill.
nametwitter.comWhen you have trouble writing, it’s usually because you don’t know what you’re trying to say. Most writing problems are actually thinking problems. And you can't copyedit your way out of poor thinking.
sari and
the secret to good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or a new thing in an old way.
- Richard Harding Davis
If you really want to understand a topic, don’t read about it, write about it.