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How to Write Usefully

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Write Usefully

#201

Post by keiferski »

philwelch wrote: post #184
keiferski wrote: post #13

As a counterpoint, I'd argue that the "mathematical" approach to good writing is inherently flawed. That is, trying to arrive at the formula for the "best" essay via dialectic (argument) is to miss the forest for the trees. Writing is an art, not a science. Formal logic was developed to display arguments, so if you are trying to be as precise and mathematical as possible, use that instead. Instead, I'd suggest readin…

I like David Foster Wallace as a writer and he’s as much an authority as anyone when it comes to writing well, but I think there’s a pretty major difference in terms of goals and priorities. PG is writing about writing as a means of processing ideas. He’s taking the perspective of a structural engineer, not an architect. While Wallace wrote beautifully, PG is writing about writing usefully, even if that writing is ba…

Have you read Consider the Lobster? It is absolutely a clear, informative, educational essay that also happens to be beautifully written.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#202

Post by skybrian »

jarnagin wrote: post #137
metalliqaz wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drop us a link my man.

Here it is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22372005

That essay was confusing because it says "encrypted email" without defining it, and the arguments are too strong; they could be used to argue that you shouldn't use email at all.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#203

Post by gfody »

mrandish wrote: post #178
jarnagin wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here it is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22372005

Good call. That's an excellent example of Paul's idea in action. In calling that OP's style rude, respondents are really equivocating on the OP's central point. The OP is demonstrating Paul's 'Strength' concept by boldly asserting "all encrypted email is not fit for purpose" in an unequivocal way. The respondents seem to agree in part but disagree at the edges and want the OP to accept qualifiers.

It's just setting the tone of the discussion. Emotionally charged writing can be fun to read but can also be tiresome especially at length.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#204

Post by philwelch »

tptacek wrote: post #189
philwelch wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(deleted)

So you derived the idea axiomatically?

sighs No, but if you think I’m full of shit, I don’t really want to waste my time discussing how I developed this particular misunderstanding about the world for your amusement.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#205

Post by philwelch »

keiferski wrote: post #201
philwelch wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like David Foster Wallace as a writer and he’s as much an authority as anyone when it comes to writing well, but I think there’s a pretty major difference in terms of goals and priorities. PG is writing about writing as a means of processing ideas. He’s taking the perspective of a structural engineer, not an architect. While Wallace wrote beautifully, PG is writing about writing usefully, even if that writing is ba…

Have you read Consider the Lobster ? It is absolutely a clear, informative, educational essay that also happens to be beautifully written.

I have. And to my analogy, some architects can also design buildings that are structurally sound ;)

Re: How to Write Usefully

#206

Post by iamcurious »

Another essay about the importance of essays. Another succinct lisp. pg seems to be cycling back to something. Maybe we should pay special attention to the next batch of yc's investments.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#207

Post by xkemp »

luord wrote: post #128

Interestingly, I saw an example of the phenomenon of people getting mad at the certainty of an essay in this very site, a few days ago. Someone was telling the author that he would achieve more if he phrased his point in a more "polite" way, just because the certainty of the writing made the critic mad. Thankfully, the author was here in the comments responding, and he didn't budge. That interaction was very refreshi…

I believe people arguing "politeness" are missing the point, though. What I most value is "dialectics" (not sure if that term is commonly used in English).

I. e. the willingness to entertain the best argument against your position in good faith. Two people who are excellent in doing so (and familiar to HN) would be Scott Alexander of slatestarcodex, and Matt Levine at Bloomberg.

(Someone rather bad at it, usually arguing against some caricature of what he imagines his opposition to be, and generally tending towards the "either unactionable, obvious, or wrong" end of the spectrum is, well, Paul Graham.)

Re: How to Write Usefully

#208

Post by combatentropy »

xvector wrote: post #2

My English teachers rewarded flowery, verbose writing. Over time I found this unwieldy and now I find myself re-reading my sentences to see what I can delete. It's satisfying, like deleting unused code in a messy codebase. I envy writers who manage to densely pack information in sentences that are beautiful to read.

> My English teachers rewarded flowery, verbose writing.

Same here, and I suspect the same for most people: "due to a series of historical accidents the teaching of writing has gotten mixed together with the study of literature" --- http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html Toward the end of high school I found The Elements of Style by accident and it changed my life. Yes, it changed my life!

I was always more interested in art than science. So I didn't become a programmer until I was almost 30. What struck me was how similar it was to prose.

1. There are many ways to write a program

2. Your first draft of a program is usually bad, but you can steadily improve it by rewriting it over and over and over. This unglamourous technique is the secret behind good prose too, as Graham points out.

3. As you rewrite it, you find you can do the same thing in half the space.

4. The programs that are most pleasant to use are ones where the programmer first wrote it for himself. Likewise, as Graham said here, a good strategy for useful essays is to write it first for yourself.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#209

Post by Psyladine »

luord wrote: post #128

Interestingly, I saw an example of the phenomenon of people getting mad at the certainty of an essay in this very site, a few days ago. Someone was telling the author that he would achieve more if he phrased his point in a more "polite" way, just because the certainty of the writing made the critic mad. Thankfully, the author was here in the comments responding, and he didn't budge. That interaction was very refreshi…

Policing tone is passive aggressive censorship & bias. It's as hideous a concept as 'culture appropriation' or the cult of positivity.

https://gawker.com/on-smarm-1476594977

Re: How to Write Usefully

#210

Post by jimbokun »

osdiab wrote: post #12

While the internet is full of garbage writing, I don't feel like telling people that they shouldn't say anything wrong or potentially unimportant is the right way to go. That's a perfectionist attitude that stifles people's ability to explore, experiment, be wrong, learn, improve, and act. Like learning a language, if you never speak it because you're afraid to say something wrong, you'll never learn. And separately,…

"I don't feel like telling people that they shouldn't say anything wrong or potentially unimportant is the right way to go."

The problem is far too many people err in the opposite direction. I don't see an Internet only consisting of perfectly reasoned and argued content, with everyone else fearfully staying quiet. I see countless comments suggesting the writer didn't take a second to consider contrary viewpoints, or facts that might undermine their argument, or stating things with certainty without regard to whether or not they have a factual basis.

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