Ask HN: How to get better at writing? • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by kasey_junk » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:27 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #26

I've read drafts from people who truly write well and have come to the conclusion that the biggest thing they're doing that I'm not is revising. I write straight through and maybe do a single pass after to punch things up and get rid of passive voice, and so everything I write reads like an HN comment (which, don't get me wrong, is a useful local optimum for me). The good writing I've watched happen was revised a lot…

The other thing the very good writers I know do that I don’t is practice. That is they will write explicitly for no audience but in a form they’d want to present to a hypothetical audience for a hypothetical reason.

This allows them all the benefits of practice in other endeavors. They can experiment, get faster, build “muscle memory” etc.

I don’t know why I keep being surprised that the answer to being good at things is working at it.

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

#62

Post by WastingMyTime89 » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

Writing is both an art and a craft but like every skill it improves with deliberate practice. It means having an idea of what good writing is - so most likely taking a course or being trained - actually writing a lot and having someone skilled criticise and correct.

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

#63

Post by SapporoChris » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

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…

"You can only ever be as good as that which you read." I disagree. If your statement was true, progress would never occur. Obviously writers can learn by reading the writing of other good writers, but the are not bound by what they have read. The ability to exceed is always present.

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

#64

Post by rmk » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

> I’ve been writing for a while but I feel like I’ve stagnated for a while.

You could rewrite this to say "I have been writing for a while, but feel like I have stagnated for some time now."

Be a ruthless editor of your own writing, to begin with. Read actual printed words that have been through rigorous editing. Examples include print magazines and newspapers.

Read Strunk and White's Elements of Style and try to put it into practice in your writing. Read a variety of works, both fiction and nonfiction. Read classic writers such as Melville, Trollope, or Hemingway and pay attention to the plot devices and writing style (you will have to re-read individual pieces in isolation, again and again).

Take every opportunity to write, including in this forum or other places where you can write and have an actual conversation with like-minded, intelligent people. I'm sure there are internet forums and subreddits for aspiring writers where you will find opportunities aplenty to write, critique and hone your craft.

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

#65

Post by tdhz77 » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

glitchc wrote: post #34

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, crit…

A professor at Harvards entire course is dedicated to the refinement process. You start with what they call “write your best story”. Every assignment afterward is the removal of something unnecessary from the original story. Each assignment is not adding to, but subtracting. Each word and sentence must matter. Painful but rewarding.

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

#66

Post by tkgally » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:48 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #52

Get people to critique your writing. Ultimately, writing is communication and recipients can give you a lot of actionable feedback. Without such a feedback loop it will be very hard to become meaningfully better at writing. Often the feedback will be relevant to a particular piece, though sometimes to writing in general.

You can also find someone else who wants to become a better writer and offer advice to each other. Reading another person’s writing while thinking about how it might be improved, and discussing your suggestions with the author, might benefit you as much as the advice you receive about your own writing.

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

#67

Post by karaterobot » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:53 PM UTC

Gene Wolfe, my favorite writer, said that the advice he gave people was to pick a short story they thought was perfect, and try to rewrite it word for word from memory.

Presumably the idea is that you run into the same challenges the original author did — how to get from one scene to the next, how to direct or misdirect the reader, etc. — and by solving those challenges you understand the mechanics of storytelling at a deeper level. Since you've got the "perfect" version of the story as a key, you aren't just guessing, and there is a right and wrong answer.

He also said that, to his knowledge, nobody had ever taken him up on this advice.

But, Wolfe was a fantastic writer, and an engineer, so I assume his approach would be a practical and useful one for anyone willing to put in the work.

I just spent about 30 minutes trying to find the source of the quote, but failed. /shrug

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

#68

Post by wellthisisgreat » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 5:53 PM UTC

99failures wrote: post #41

Reading makes you a better writer. Writing makes you a better thinker. Better thinking leads to better everything. David Mamet's writings on writing are the best.

Hey, which Mamet’s books on writing would you recommend? Thanks

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

#69

Post by mbigras » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 6:08 PM UTC

Do the Technical Writing One course [1] and consider Google developer technical documentation style guide highlights [2]. Both those links are about technical writing which is primarily about clarity. Since I started focusing on clarity when writing, I find any writing fun and engaging.

-[1] https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/one

-[2] https://developers.google.com/style/highlights

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

#70

Post by DantesKite » Sun, Dec 25, 2022, 6:28 PM UTC

Rewriting (by hand) the works of authors you admire is a great way to boost your writing skills.

It'll give you an intuition and "taste" for the texture of writing; why you find it so compelling, even if you don't consciously know the rules they're applying.

Highly recommend.