The most important advantage of writing is that it helps us confront ourselves when we do not understand something as well as we would like to believe.
The trick to writing well is to...
- take long sentences and make them short
- take confusing ideas and make them clear
- take unrelated concepts and make them related
...without losing the main idea in the process.
1. The aim of my writing is never to make money. If there are opportunities, I will pay attention, but it is never the direct aim. I obsessively focus on other funding mechanisms such that I don't have to worry much about how to monetize writing.
2. I write for readers like me. I dislike a lot of the current trends in books. I think they dumb down... See more
superb writing (and life) advice from paul millerd
Announcing: Writing Examples
Today is launch day! We built this website to celebrate great writing.
It’s 100% free. Each article deconstructs a piece of writing from an iconic writer. The goal is to give you X-Ray vision into what makes sentences and paragraphs come alive (so that you can... See more
The kind we love is focused, challenging, sustained, with a pen in hand, making note of new turns of phrase and peculiar, precise words, and feeling our brains get ever-so-slightly reconfigured by the text. The kind of reading we love requires a piece of text be worked over so many times that the author probably never wants to see it again. The... See more
The act of writing forces you to confront the truth in ways that mere thinking does not. As they say: "It's easier to lie to yourself than a blank white page."
You also receive feedback whenever you share ideas, and if it's any good, it points you towards the truth.