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Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

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Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#31

Post by ghaff »

stared wrote: post #22

Write -> give other people for proofreading -> rewrite -> publish -> gather feedback. There is no other way than practice. Feedback speeds up this learning process a lot and improves the result significantly. Everything else varies from person to person. Some write daily; some don't for months - then dive into their writing modes. Some start with an outline, and some - pour a stream of thoughts into the computer. Nev…

I'd probably substitute editing for proofreading (which for me implies copyediting). Particularly starting out you may be looking for more structural feedback than a copyeditor will often provide.

But other than that I agree. There are probably a few books worth reading but it's more about writing and getting good feedback. Past a certain point, you can probably dispense with some of that feedback depending on the nature of what you're writing. But it's essential to get started.

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#32

Post by tazoptica »

Read a lot and write a lot but also edit your own work a lot, putting intervals between editing passes. There is no shortcut. A million words and you’ll be publishable. Three or for million and you might start to approach good. A third party editor might help but could also hurt and isn’t worth it unless the project requires it. Beyond what grammarly can do, labelled data is going to be in short supply— it’s mostly an unsupervised problem. Your most important editor will be you.

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#33

Post by denton-scratch »

I'd say that if you want to write well, read good writers.

There's different styles of writing, for different purposes. Entertainment, intellectual debate, instruction etc. You didn't say what you wanted to write about.

What's a good writer? Well, someone who writes well, to your taste, and in your domain. Or if you want to write commercially, someone who is commercially successful; whether or not they write well, I suppose.

For many purposes, a knowledge of logic and rhetoric is probably going to help.

It's hard to say - you haven't given much away.

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#34

Post by glitchc »

Reading good writing is the first step towards improving your written output. Observe the techniques that resonate with you and incorporate them into your style. It will feel clunky at first, like any new exercise, but over time will become more fluid and seamless. Reading also builds a large vocabulary, which is essential to achieve fluid prose.

Read the best authors for the intended style, be it story-writing, critical analysis or business communication. It all depends on the style of writing you would like to master. It's theor techniques that you want to emulate and make your own.

Write to evoke an emotion. There must be a purpose to your writing. If to inform, guide the reader to an ah-ha moment. Your writing will be memorable if the reader feels something.

Cut fluff. Every word must have a purpose. Less is more.

Good writing is about refining your own voice. Write as you speak, speak as you write, and both will improve.

Ultimately, have fun with it. Experiment with different styles. Writing is an art, it requires creativity. This must be cultivated and grown. In time, over many poorly crafted drafts, a unique voice, all your own, will emerge.

Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#35

Post by thorncorona »

lowken wrote: post #29

This technique helped me become a better writer. Get a cheep spiral notebook and a nice pen. Then collect some example writings that represent the best writing style you aspire to. I prefer short stories and essays, but for larger examples (novels) you can focus on single chapters. Every day spend about 1/2 hour copying the example writing by hand into the spiral notebook. When you are done copying about two pages in…

I am happy you found success copying others’ writing but highly doubt that rote copying is what made the difference. It’s more likely that you learned through analysis.

Learning works through synthesis of material, which is the main takeaway from the writing studies you mentioned, however when copying writing no synthesis occurs. Also these studies were recently duplicated and results did not match the original conclusion.

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#36

Post by KerryJones »

1. Write a lot

I think much of the other advice on this page is very valid (and I'll repeat some below), but what I often find missing from advice like this is simply do the thing a lot with some sort of feedback/iteration loop. While this is true for most professions, it is specially true for writing: write a lot.

Other useful things to help: 2. Define the purpose of your writing 3. Define who your target audience is (is this a novel, article writing, marketing, etc) 4. Define who you are as the author (are you a subject matter expert, the narrator of a story, a friend)

Learn some of the basics: - Elements of Style is a good place to start - Use Grammarly - Read, a lot

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#37

Post by 1retep »

sandworm101 wrote: post #30

You can only ever be as good as that which you read. Read only blog post and you will sound like a blogger. Read only classics and you will sound like a scholar. If you read enough you will become your own best critic. Stop trying to write better and spend that time reading the best material you can find. The same is true for all aspects of language. If you want to speak better, don't watch TV news or LA sitcoms. Wat…

This is such a good point. After 3 years of writing and reading (mostly) math proofs, I wrote everything in proof-like fashion.

Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

#40

Post by tanticen »

yef wrote: post #7

Read more in order to identify the types of writing you admire, enjoy and perhaps wish to emulate on some level. I like William Zinsser's books, On Writing Well is the "flagship" I guess. If you're writing in public, like a blog, try giving yourself a deadline and permission for the post not to be perfect.

Zinsser's On Writing Well was my game changer, can't recommend highly enough. And it's a fun read too.

The main takeaway is to simplify text as much as possible. That doesn't mean dumbing it down, and it doesn't mean abandoning creativity. It's just the opposite: Once you get rid of all the excess junk, the reader will hear your genuine voice.

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