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Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

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Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#31

Post by wintercarver »

nemild wrote: post #17
jamesjyu wrote: post #16

The major thing I struggled with transitioning to being a writer from the tech world is the challenge of creating feedback cycles. Writing can be a lonely affair, since outside of writing rooms, it's not naturally collaborative, unlike the business world, where you get constant feedback from peers, bosses, customers, the market, etc. The advice from published authors I know is that the highest correlation with eventu…

I wrote a tweet thread on building a writing habit: https://twitter.com/nemild/status/1113441095323492352 Consistency and having social pressure were critical for me. Also, check out Daily Rituals: How Artists Work (book)

Great thread, thanks for sharing. I've found a lot of what you said to ring absolutely true in my own experience (only recently started publicly sharing content). I also love writing on a typewriter, it's such a great tool for focusing on moving forward as opposed to obsessive, premature editing.

Do you have any thoughts on finding/developing your writing community?

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#32

Post by b_tterc_p »

pjmorris wrote: post #9

In 'Working' [0], Robert Caro spends pages on how much being able to join a community of writers meant to him when producing 'The Power Broker.' The New York Public Library set aside a room as a workspace explicitly to house writers working on books. A passage from 'Working': And these writers provided more for me than merely the glow of their names. In my memory, no one spoke to me for the first few days I was in th…

Writing sounds existentially terrifying.

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#33

Post by Steve44 »

searine wrote: post #11

It's not just writing. Being around a group of highly-skilled peers sets the bar. It exposed your shortcomings and gives you a resource to remedy them.

When I was programming I loved working in an office with other teams. The buzz with the other creatives, coders, artists, musicians, really helped me to develop what I was working on. If I was ‘in the zone’ I could be totally focussed for hours but when I needed a mental break, or to chat over ideas there were always others around to do that with.

I’ve sometimes worked at home which can be great for a few days of pure coding but for the longer term development I really relish having other peers around.

I once did a project, about six months work, purely from home and although I was disciplined enough to work I feel I was nowhere near my best because of the isolation.

This is why I find it strange the drive a lot of people have to work at home, for me it’s nice occasionally but it just doesn’t work for my creativity.

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#34

Post by Firadeoclus »

rolltiide wrote: post #21

This is the same with other creative works. Visual artists work that gains value is highly correlated with their network to begin with. Right school, right galleries, never ever being seen in a lesser gallery. It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of bein…

> It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of being in a prestigious gallery achievable for them? Probably not, and they should consider resigning to that reality if their time is valuable.

If they accept that the alternative is not achievable then being on display in a "lesser gallery" is as good as it gets. So why shouldn't they celebrate? There's room for successful-but-no-superstar artists.

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#35

Post by whatshisface »

rolltiide wrote: post #21

This is the same with other creative works. Visual artists work that gains value is highly correlated with their network to begin with. Right school, right galleries, never ever being seen in a lesser gallery. It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of bein…

>the things they value are so at odds with the things that would make them valuable

If the market price is the value to everybody, then a $100,000 spare part for some random industrial equipment is worth $100,000 to me. But, somehow, I clearly wouldn't spend that much to buy it. The market price isn't the value that everybody agrees on, it's the equilibrium between buyers who decide not to buy it and sellers who decide not to sell it. Yes, to a certain group of people stuff in that New York gallery is worth a lot, but so is that spare part. Manufacturing it might be a good job but nobody goes in to art looking for a good job.

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#36

Post by milquetoastaf »

Steve44 wrote: post #33
searine wrote: post #11

It's not just writing. Being around a group of highly-skilled peers sets the bar. It exposed your shortcomings and gives you a resource to remedy them.

When I was programming I loved working in an office with other teams. The buzz with the other creatives, coders, artists, musicians, really helped me to develop what I was working on. If I was ‘in the zone’ I could be totally focussed for hours but when I needed a mental break, or to chat over ideas there were always others around to do that with. I’ve sometimes worked at home which can be great for a few days of pur…

>This is why I find it strange the drive a lot of people have to work at home, for me it’s nice occasionally but it just doesn’t work for my creativity.

It's almost as if you are a single data point in a massive distribution

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#37

Post by jamesjyu »

wintercarver wrote: post #31
nemild wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wrote a tweet thread on building a writing habit: https://twitter.com/nemild/status/1113441095323492352 Consistency and having social pressure were critical for me. Also, check out Daily Rituals: How Artists Work (book)

Great thread, thanks for sharing. I've found a lot of what you said to ring absolutely true in my own experience (only recently started publicly sharing content). I also love writing on a typewriter, it's such a great tool for focusing on moving forward as opposed to obsessive, premature editing. Do you have any thoughts on finding/developing your writing community?

Usually workshops are a good place to find folks at your level, and those that go are usually eager to connect, and maybe even start a critique group if that is what you want.

You can also try larger cons that are aimed at your vertical, but I’ve found that workshops attract people who are more actively engaged in improving their craft. Those are the folks you want to mingle with.

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#38

Post by notfromhere »

rolltiide wrote: post #21

This is the same with other creative works. Visual artists work that gains value is highly correlated with their network to begin with. Right school, right galleries, never ever being seen in a lesser gallery. It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of bein…

You've demonstrated pretty well that the value of art is extremely arbitrary.

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#39

Post by rolltiide »

whatshisface wrote: post #35
rolltiide wrote: post #21

This is the same with other creative works. Visual artists work that gains value is highly correlated with their network to begin with. Right school, right galleries, never ever being seen in a lesser gallery. It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of bein…

> the things they value are so at odds with the things that would make them valuable If the market price is the value to everybody, then a $100,000 spare part for some random industrial equipment is worth $100,000 to me. But, somehow, I clearly wouldn't spend that much to buy it. The market price isn't the value that everybody agrees on, it's the equilibrium between buyers who decide not to buy it and sellers who dec…

the market price isn't the value to everybody, its the value in the last transaction

in more efficient markets you can weigh it by volume (VWAP), art is not an efficient market

Re: Writers Are More Prolific When They Cluster

#40

Post by rolltiide »

Firadeoclus wrote: post #34
rolltiide wrote: post #21

This is the same with other creative works. Visual artists work that gains value is highly correlated with their network to begin with. Right school, right galleries, never ever being seen in a lesser gallery. It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of bein…

> It makes me sad when an artist who wants to monetize is celebrating the mere fact of being on display as validation, when that very act is undermining the value of their work forever. Is the alternative of being in a prestigious gallery achievable for them? Probably not, and they should consider resigning to that reality if their time is valuable. If they accept that the alternative is not achievable then being on…

> If they accept that the alternative is not achievable then being on display in a "lesser gallery" is as good as it gets. So why shouldn't they celebrate? There's room for successful-but-no-superstar artists.

Again, I don't think many aspiring artists are aware. They focus on mastery of a craft and also want to make money. They feel that these things are correlated. They aren't.

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