Writing
To put the writing and speaking speeds into perspective, we form thoughts at 1,000-3,000 words per minute . Natural language might be natural, but it’s a bottleneck.
Julian • The Case Against Conversational Interfaces
This is what I do for everything I post:
- Write all of my thoughts on a subject.
- Argue against those ideas.
- Explore different angles until I’m sick of it.
- Leave it for a few days or years, then repeat those steps.
- Hate how messy these thoughts have become.
- Reduce them to a tiny outline of the key points.
- Post the outline. Trash the rest.
Brian Koberlein • P&B: Derek Sivers – Manu
To come up with new ideas, you have to have space to be messy, to procrastinate, and to let your mind wander and free-associate. But there needs to be a balance. You eventually need to channel it into something concrete, or you won’t produce anything.
Dasha Nekrasova • Jon Rafman and Dasha Nekrasova on the Horror We Call Life
So here they are, my personal rules for blogging.
- Three posts a week, more or less.
- One idea per post. If I find myself launching into another section, cut and paste the extra into a separate draft post, and tie off the original one with the word “Anyway.” Then publish.
- No hedging, no nuance. If I’m getting in a twist about a sentence, take it out.
- Gi
15 rules for blogging, and my current streak
When you write online, there are strong incentives to write prose that is tightly packed with insights and fastmoving and a little intense—to catch and hold attention. That can feel limiting. I wonder what is the slowest, calmest piece I could write that would still work?
Henrik Karlssonsubstack.com
Mon esprit nocturne était différent. Pourquoi étais-je à la fois plus craintive et plus sereine ? Pourquoi avais-je tendance à m'énerver et à me faire du souci ? À me montrer plus téméraire ? Pourquoi les images, les idées et les souvenirs s'aggloméraient-ils en d'étranges collages ? Les problèmes d'écriture que j'avais rencontrés pendant la journée se trouvaient résolus pendant que j'errais dans la maison plongée dans la pénombre, en regardant le ciel à travers chaque fenêtre. Au milieu de mes nuits d'insomnie, mon esprit me semblait moins logique, moins méthodique. J'étais moins certaine de mon jugement et des priorités à donner. Mais en échange, mon critique intérieur s'était tu. Les idées et les pensées tournaient, fondaient, fusionnaient. Je me refusais à les juger, mais au matin, quand je jetais un regard neuf sur ce que j'avais écrit pendant la nuit, j'étais souvent convaincue.
Our desire to maintain harmony can cause us to be indirect about uncomfortable truths. Our desire to influence can cause us to pre-emptively address every arcane objection. Our desire to impress can cause us to use more language than necessary. And the expectations we have internalized about corporate communication often cause us to write in a way
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