thoughts on writing
My product won’t write sentences for you. The slow process of writing is what clarifies thought, shapes identity, and cultivates a lens to the world. Writing is the whole point; it isn’t a chore to optimize, it’s an infinite game.
Michael Dean • Mega-Update
I don’t write to simply generate a 1,200 word output. I consider writing to be an extension of my curiosity, and the writing process itself is what turns a rough idea into a finished product. [...] Writing is a metamorphosis that turns vague abstractions into novel ideas, but you have to go through the writing process to connect the various points... See more
Thomas Klaffke • From Chasing Goals To Falling In Love With The Process
If you have a plan—if you know the end when you start—it’s no fun to write that novel.
“Writing is often the process by which you realize you do not understand what you are talking about.”
Attention Required! | Cloudflare
One-thousand or two-thousand words every day for the next twenty years. At the start, you might shoot for one short story a week, fifty-two stories a year, for five years. You will have to write and put away or burn a lot of material before you are comfortable in this medium. You might as well start now and get the necessary work done.
Ray Bradbury • Zen in the Art of Writing
Writing: Assuming you understand the core principles of writing and the basics of grammar, what determines your ability to write well more than anything else is writing a lot. Once you reach the threshold of writing a decent sentence, the thing that leads to success is writing more.
James Clear • How Smart Do You Have to Be to Succeed?
Prioritize the whole rather than the parts : when it comes to writing, often we want to share more than would benefit the piece. In my final edits, I often delete factoids and quotations that interest me but detract from my overall message. As I tell my students, good writing is good editing. Take out all the bits that don’t benefit the whole.