Check out Metafilter, perhaps?
I second that. I’m a member, full of insightful comments. I’ve joked in the past that it’s a social network for librarians. Check out the sub sites fan fare and ask for example.
Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
81–90 of 99 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or, the alternative, is that yours (apparently) and gp’s point of view is not that common as you think it is. So it is not me that have to understand things, it is you that are wrong. Also, the mentioned example seems very implausible. What makes an author unique is not what source they used for inspiration. Two writers will get the exact same “19th century travel journal” and write to completely different stories in…
I don’t think our points are opposed. I can’t speak for the parent but I am not saying people don’t like you, won’t help you or that they resent you or guard their secrets. They can like you and not tell you important points they’d like to keep secret. I am saying that if you went in asking certain direct questions about the author’s work you wouldn’t get the same reception. I agree with your point about the outcome…
I think they are opposed. Writers hiding research secrets because they don't want to help the competition seems to be as useless as wannabe founders hiding their idea for a business because they are afraid someone will steal them. It is much more likely that this secrecy is hurting more than helping them, as they don't have some feedback on how to improve the idea.
Also, the existence of secrets among humans due to competition seems to be a moot point. Bringing the discussion to the original point, if said competition prevents the existence of a writers' HN, I believe that is completely false. HN is good for entrepreneurs. The fact that they don't share their sales leads here doesn't matter at all for the existence and quality of HN.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#83As a slight tangent to your discussion, here are links to Brandon Sanderson's BYU lectures on creative writing[1], and other general writing advice[2]
I like that these are not behind some sort of paywall like a "Masterclass" or something.
He also runs an award winning podcast [3] since 2008, which brings forwards famous authors and gets them to share advice on writing.
It's not quite the cozy one-on-one forum style discussion amongst peers that you were wishing for, but if OP is looking for some guidance.
Btw, have you look at the screenwriter's subreddit [4]? I feel they have a much tighter focus on the "writing" aspect, than other general writing related subreddits or forums.
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[1]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSH_xM-KC3Zv-79sVZTTj...
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSH_xM-KC3ZtjKTR2z8rP...
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#84Hacker news partially works because of the way the community is built; there are people here at all stages of their careers, which is unusual. (Anywhere from successful startup founders, to teenagers just interested in the topic.) A corrollary community of writers would be wonderful, though I do think it would likely require the backing of an institution parallel to Ycombinator. Fortunately, there are many organizati…
Do you happen to have any experience with The Loft?
We interviewed one of their instructors for a teaching position, and were quite impressed with them. That's the limit of my experience.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Writers are adjacent to journalists. They do not want for news, and realistically their perspective is over represented in media currently, unlike software developers.
What do you mean writers do not want for news? Are you sure? Are you aware of Publishers Marketplace?
I mean there are people with arts degrees who went through adjacent if not identical accredited programs and early careers, now working professionally in journalism and writing fiction. The broad perspective, if not the specific niche of the perspective, is well-represented.
This is functionally not the case with engineering schools. Are there any experienced CS or CpE majors working as journalists for major mainstream media organizations? There may be, I honestly don’t know, but they are at least rather hard to find.
Hacker news exists and has value in part because what we had before were predominantly press releases and wikis run by often a single person. Writers with very few exceptions didn’t have the depth of practical experience necessary to provide insights and context, while technology needing commentary was rapidly emerging.
A lot of the early would-be peers such as slashdot and ars got absorbed by media companies and now they are not the same. It helps that HN does not have to make money, and from what I have seen is extremely well moderated.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Writers are adjacent to journalists. They do not want for news, and realistically their perspective is over represented in media currently, unlike software developers.
This is confusing to me. It almost sounds like you're saying that because journalists write articles, that makes their articles relevant to journalists, no matter what the article is about. By that logic, all articles are related to writing, because they're from the perspective of writers. This can't be what you mean, but that's what I'm inferring, and I'm having trouble figuring out a different interpretation. To my…
You may be right, but I think the general news stuff comes after people have gotten value from the met need.
It could be that a wave of similar sites will emerge for a bunch of niche topics and it just so happens that hackers were on the internet first. That hypothesis matches the data too.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t think our points are opposed. I can’t speak for the parent but I am not saying people don’t like you, won’t help you or that they resent you or guard their secrets. They can like you and not tell you important points they’d like to keep secret. I am saying that if you went in asking certain direct questions about the author’s work you wouldn’t get the same reception. I agree with your point about the outcome…
I think they are opposed. Writers hiding research secrets because they don't want to help the competition seems to be as useless as wannabe founders hiding their idea for a business because they are afraid someone will steal them. It is much more likely that this secrecy is hurting more than helping them, as they don't have some feedback on how to improve the idea. Also, the existence of secrets among humans due to c…
Totally disagree with your first point. It is only valid if you have infinite money and all the best connections and perfect trust. Show me where that exists and I’ll buy it.
Hiding the right secrets in an early company is critical, whether they are technological that you are hiding from competitors or business plan endgames that you are hiding from customers (but perhaps you aren’t aware of them and only the VC sees it). There is a big difference between some person thinking they have a great idea but won’t tell anyone, and determining where you draw the line on sharing product, go-to-market, etc. People who raise enough money have the “that’s the secret part” point of the conversation. The conversation goes better if they communicate that in a way most people don’t notice, though, and so at that point they frequently redirect, deflect or defer.
I think we see the audience of HN differently — from my perception it is predominantly aspirational entrepreneurs, not actual entrepreneurs that make up the majority of engagement here. While no doubt the percentage of entrepreneurs is higher here than just about anywhere else, entrepreneurs have less time and there are just far fewer of them. What I believe is predominant here though, whether entrepreneur or not, is engineer/developer roles.
Regarding your point on competition I think we understand the two cultures of engineers and writers differently. Writing has less constraint, and in my experience that means it is more reliant on ego expression. It can be humbling but a person can also make a great career being a terrible writer. Engineers make things that function. If you are a terrible engineer, your work will rapidly disappoint probably a lot of people, and either you improve, you hide somewhere adjacent, or you leave the profession.
I think HN works for a variety of reasons including the general humility of engineers, the general lack of desire for the spotlight, and the frequency of dramatic and immediate improvement of workflows due to new tools. I don’t know which of these and other reasons are critical but I am skeptical writing has enough of them. Maybe with a new generation of writers.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this any different for those in the typical HN fields - software engineering, IT, etc?
I've never saw a software engineer hoard some knowledge for a competitive edge. I guess it's blue/red ocean market difference multiplied by the fact that average engineer can feel pretty successful with his career, whereas an average writer is anything but.
> I've never saw a software engineer hoard some knowledge for a competitive edge.
Not even in work?
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#89I am not a writer or anyone but I have read quite a few questions from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/
I was going to suggest the same. World building is fun to read and might be interesting to post on if you’re a writer.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News for writers?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you mean writers do not want for news? Are you sure? Are you aware of Publishers Marketplace?
I mean there are people with arts degrees who went through adjacent if not identical accredited programs and early careers, now working professionally in journalism and writing fiction. The broad perspective, if not the specific niche of the perspective, is well-represented. This is functionally not the case with engineering schools. Are there any experienced CS or CpE majors working as journalists for major mainstre…
I have no idea what your logic is right now beyond making a point that's spoken from a place of complete ignorance of an industry one doesn't work in and, upon being confronted with that ignorance, doubling down with even less logic.
The original point of issue was the claim that industry-specific news pertaining to writers isn't needed. Whether or not computer scientists are writers has nothing to do with the incorrect claim, which I've given examples to portray its incorrectness.