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How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

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Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#31

Post by sabellito »

leonth wrote: post #26
kleiba wrote: post #12

Here's a question about possible cultural differences: I notice that a good number of blog posts I come across these days, that are actually about a technical topic, either start with or prominently feature the authors feelings toward the topic. This post is a great example for what I mean, it starts with "I love writing. Every little goddamn bit of it." I'm personally really turned off by that particular writing sty…

I would say it is not about writing style but more about the personality of the author. According to MBTI for example, people are either Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), and I would imagine that strongly Feeling people focus much more on emotions (as compared to Thinking people) when expressing anything - be it talking, writing, etc. To them, the expression of emotion towards a particular subject is as important, if not…

Tangential to your post, you might not be aware that MBTI seems to be as scientific as astrology:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers%E2%80%93Briggs_Type_In...

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#33

Post by Cthulhu_ »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #18

I really never understood writer's block. I can write 10000 words on the spot on any random word picked out of the dictionary. Even a one I don't know at all. Friends loved to test me on this, picking up some BS topic and see if I can come up with a scenario or a song. Then after a few minutes of my rambling they get bored of course. Having something to say doesn't mean it's interesting. My problem is rather to learn…

But you're writing about a subject you know about - what about something new, something actually creative? Writing fiction? A subject you know nothing about and for which you can't look up anything?

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#34

Post by wombatmobile »

libertine wrote: post #10
wombatmobile wrote: post #3

Writing is easy. Writing legible, interesting, persuasive, succinct, informative, insightful, lucid, precise or revealing copy is more difficult.

>Writing is easy. Try writing about yourself, or some past experience and try to make it as engaging as it was for you - like a writing about a job you had in the past. I don't find it easy.

Yes indeed. It is difficult to write in engaging way that gives the reader some insight into what you experienced.

But if you were just writing for the sake of it and putting down word afterword without really thinking about what you’re saying or not even caring what the reader is thinking at all just speaking whatever comes to mind in some sort of you know some sort of aSelf centred sort of a style which isn’t really a style it’s really just talking to yourself well you know that’s um yeah that’s not so hard really I’m just sort of do it you know? Yeah and you can and you actually don’t have to write it or you can just talk into your phone!

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#35

Post by mekkkkkk »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #18

I really never understood writer's block. I can write 10000 words on the spot on any random word picked out of the dictionary. Even a one I don't know at all. Friends loved to test me on this, picking up some BS topic and see if I can come up with a scenario or a song. Then after a few minutes of my rambling they get bored of course. Having something to say doesn't mean it's interesting. My problem is rather to learn…

The thing you are describing is not the opposite of writer's block. It's something orthogonal to it, at least in my experience. I'm also quite capable of stringing together endless seemingly coherent texts about anything when there are no true personal stakes involved.

However, when trying to tell a story or covering a subject that I really care about, that's a whole other ball game.

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#36

Post by nicbou »

It's similar to sketching. I get the same sort of fear when I do it.

My solution is to be more forgiving. Paper is cheap. I can try bold concepts and fail miserably. I can stop halfway through a sketch and try something else, or revisit it years later. No one is keeping track. In the end, I learn more from drawing poorly than from not drawing at all.

I am also forgiving when I write. The content I publish gets revised several times over many years, like a family recipe that improves with every attempt. Through each iteration, I find better ways to explain things to my readers. On the internet, I can republish as often as you want, so there's no cost to getting it mostly right.

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#37

Post by nelox »

glanzwulf wrote: post #2

A few years back I did an internship at a gaming magazine and one of the editors gave me a great tip to make writing a lot easier: "Just start writing. Write whatever you want but write and write and keep writing. Eventually what you want will appear on the page and you'll edit out the random blabbering". Made a huge difference for me because my problem was the initial blank page.

This is precisely how I approach writing a journal. Some days are easier than others. On the not so easy days, simply writing anything, in an almost stream of consciousness way, gets the ball rolling and the thoughts and feelings finally gel in to something comprehensible.

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#38

Post by getlawgdon »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #18

I really never understood writer's block. I can write 10000 words on the spot on any random word picked out of the dictionary. Even a one I don't know at all. Friends loved to test me on this, picking up some BS topic and see if I can come up with a scenario or a song. Then after a few minutes of my rambling they get bored of course. Having something to say doesn't mean it's interesting. My problem is rather to learn…

This is is not good writing any more than curling a single finger a thousand times is good exercise for the body.

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#39

Post by dr_dshiv »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #18

I really never understood writer's block. I can write 10000 words on the spot on any random word picked out of the dictionary. Even a one I don't know at all. Friends loved to test me on this, picking up some BS topic and see if I can come up with a scenario or a song. Then after a few minutes of my rambling they get bored of course. Having something to say doesn't mean it's interesting. My problem is rather to learn…

I wish I could hire someone who had the same attitude toward writing... Hard to find!

Re: How to Make Writing a Lot Easier

#40

Post by ctrlp »

kleiba wrote: post #12

Here's a question about possible cultural differences: I notice that a good number of blog posts I come across these days, that are actually about a technical topic, either start with or prominently feature the authors feelings toward the topic. This post is a great example for what I mean, it starts with "I love writing. Every little goddamn bit of it." I'm personally really turned off by that particular writing sty…

Professional writing for publication is usually about number of words. The emotional fluff is a version of double-spacing and large font. It's there to stretch an idea that could be stated in a single sentence into an essay. Writing classes teach people to indulge in that sort of thing under the pretense of being interesting or persuasive. But classes aren't necessary. If you're writing for the web or glossies, you'll pick it up through osmosis. It's just what you say when you don't have anything to say but need to say a lot of it.
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