Writing
Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.
William Zinsser • On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
What works for me (as I said previously) is a single line at the top of the page that sums up the main point I'm trying to make. Then I list some key points that relate to or support my bigger idea. Then I go back and expand on those ideas in another sentence or two, creating paragraphs. Then I move the paragraphs around, adding transitions between
... See moreAnn Handley • Everybody Writes
When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a thematic gravity well, a magnet for what would otherwise be a mess of iron filings. I’ll read books differently and listen differently in conversations. In particular I’ll remember everything better; everything... See more
James Somers • More People Should Write
Simplicity isn’t just a visual style. It’s not just minimalism or the absence of clutter. It involves digging through the depth of the complexity. To be truly simple, you have to go really deep. For example, to have no screws on something, you can end up having a product that is so convoluted and so complex. The better way is to go deeper with the... See more
Walter Isaacson • Steve Jobs
Note to self:
Leaving this here for next time I’m halfway through a piece, staring vacantly at the page and slowly losing my grip on reality.
- The first draft is to make it exist.
- The second draft is to make it functional.
- The third draft is to make it effective.
Leaving this here for next time I’m halfway through a piece, staring vacantly at the page and slowly losing my grip on reality.
Sublime • Sublime on Substack
writing wasn’t easy and wasn’t fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed.
William Zinsser • On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
the curse of knowledge. It’s almost impossible to imagine not knowing what you know. Therefore, it’s a challenge to put yourself in the same position as your reader.
Doug Kessler • How to Write Clearly
When people say, "I was writing all day," they don't mean they were intermittently typing for eight straight hours. They mean they spent the entire day engaged in the writing process. And a big part of that process is installing, configuring, and testing software—in other words, learning.