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Write simply (2021)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Write simply (2021)

#71

Post by goldfeld »

paulpauper wrote: post #10

This may be good advice for an instruction manual or children's books, but I think good prose is something of an art in and of itself. Some of the most successful writers do the opposite. Look at the articles that go viral ..you see that the prose is varied and even complicated, not just simple. The best prose is that which conveys the intended message for the intended audience in the best way possible. I think it's…

I've been thinking about writing and about how people can learn to write well in a time of non-writing.

I have a service to use AI together with expertise in guiding beginner authors, writers for whom English is not the primary language, and for experienced casual writers. There are many heuristics that can be shown to writers to make the message clear, more impactful, in essay writing, short fiction, poetry, etc. If anyone's willing to beta test the service, contact me on reddit /u/goldfeld.

Re: Write simply (2021)

#72

Post by rtpg »

dang wrote: post #38
wilsonnb3 wrote: post #17

I get that this guy is like rich and famous and founded this website or something so people always post his stuff here but his writing always has this weird veneer of pseudo intellectual philosophy that I find very off putting.

If that's true, please count me as pseudo intellectual also, because pg is one of the smartest people I've met and I continue to be in awe of how his mind works. I know it's silly to post such a thing, as the bias/conflict of interest is obvious and it will inevitably come across wrong—but I've thought and said this long before I met pg or had any connection to YC, so if there's a causal arrow it goes the other way.…

There are so many people who "think from first principles" (EDIT: meant "think for themselves" via first principles. Comments are not condusive to rewrites).

The reality is that many people are treading various intellectual ideas, and the idea that _you_ are the one with the new and innovative idea nobody else has thought of is... well.

I think what happens a lot of times though is that people will get to an idea that others dismiss, and then keep on going for whatever reason. Most of the time this leads to nowhere. Sometimes it leads somewhere interesting/valuable. But this is probably the most straightforward example of survivor bias out there. People with success will probably have done something counterintuitive or explored thoughts other people didn't have, but so many others waddle around endlessly in their search for having the unique idea.

If you want to get scientific with it, the way to prove if his ideas were valuable still would be to publish them anonymously. I'm a nobody and I have had things I post here get traffic. Some of pg's essays would also inspire some good conversations. But... this? I don't know.

Re: Write simply (2021)

#73

Post by nonrandomstring »

Wistar wrote: post #45
nonrandomstring wrote: post #29

Simplicity is one desirable aspect of writing, which is a technology. Graham's argument seems to be that simplicity makes writing effective. It can. But effective for what? To what end? The ecstasy of communication? Enhancing reach only makes sense if you have a message. The envelope for that message might also be passionate, sincere, vivid, playful, challenging, informative, and perhaps most of all - enjoyable for t…

A look at the less-simple direction: "I do not know exactly why, in the twentieth century, the dominant fashions in English prose moved relentlessly in the direction of ever greater simplification and aesthetic minimalism. I do not even entirely regret it. Tastes change, and some of the change has been a corrective of certain excesses of the past. But, on the whole, the result has been a kind of official dogma in fav…

Thanks for that great David Bentley Hart link.

I see multiple trends going on in writing. Academic "STEM" writing is getting impenetrable, not because the authors are obscuritan, but to satisfy non-functional powers; to conform to keywords, generate REF impact factors and whatnot. At the same time science journalism is pulling the other way. In an effort to dumb things down to a folksy and breathless "hey, isn't that amazing!", it ends up just wrong. In both cases the stylish tail is wagging the dog.

What I read here from Bentley is something else, anticipating the corporate grey goo of soulless, value-free - "voices utterly anonymous in their monotonous ordinariness." It's a kind of linguistic self-harm.

To me, that writing is not merely passive, it's actively cowardly.

I've read a lot of 'perfect' resignation letters sent around email by colleagues;

   "I have worked for Company X for the past Y years during which time
   I've had the pleasure of working alongside all of you. Thank you
   for your wonderful support I have received over the years...." yada
   yada
But everyone knows, just two weeks ago there was genuine concern that person might just go postal with a Samurai sword in the C-suite.

What energy it must take to be that insincere to oneself. And at what cost to your soul? And after all that, it's kinda insulting to everyone too. Such corruption of words.

Re: Write simply (2021)

#74

Post by Donckele »

frietzkriesler2 wrote: post #21
mproud wrote: post #2

Something a boss of mine told me once was, after drafting an email, re-read it and cut its length roughly in half. If an email isn’t succinct, no one will read it fully.

There's a cartoon about a boss' email versus an employee's. I took that to heart and started writing emails as such. Correction, grad student versus professor email.

Something like this:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/9a/e8/3a9ae804abc43be473e6...

Re: Write simply (2021)

#75

Post by imgabe »

mproud wrote: post #2

Something a boss of mine told me once was, after drafting an email, re-read it and cut its length roughly in half. If an email isn’t succinct, no one will read it fully.

If you can fit it all in the subject line, even better

Re: Write simply (2021)

#76

Post by dpatru »

Barrin92 wrote: post #46

>My goal when writing might be called saltintesta: the ideas leap into your head and you barely notice the words that got them there. Don't think this a thing to aim for. When you write you don't just want to convey meaning by what you write, but by how you write. People express meaning through style and form, not just through content. It's very techbro-ish and it reminds me of a guy I met who replaced all his meals…

To the extent that writing is like playing an instrument, one should try writing simply before trying to be stylish or entertaining. And for many purposes, simple writing is enough.

Re: Write simply (2021)

#77

Post by simonebrunozzi »

dang wrote: post #38
wilsonnb3 wrote: post #17

I get that this guy is like rich and famous and founded this website or something so people always post his stuff here but his writing always has this weird veneer of pseudo intellectual philosophy that I find very off putting.

If that's true, please count me as pseudo intellectual also, because pg is one of the smartest people I've met and I continue to be in awe of how his mind works. I know it's silly to post such a thing, as the bias/conflict of interest is obvious and it will inevitably come across wrong—but I've thought and said this long before I met pg or had any connection to YC, so if there's a causal arrow it goes the other way.…

dang, I think you should write like Paul - meaning, you should write a few essays, and see if you like writing them, and then if people like reading them. I can happily offer to read your drafts.

Also, I am sure PG is really smart, but do not underestimate the effect on your brain of spending hours a day on HN, for many years. That's what makes me curious to read your stuff, in addition to Paul's.

Ah, I believe the simple main reason why people criticize Paul is... envy.

He doesn't need to be right all the time. He writes things that are provocative, and often make me/us think a lot about the topic. That's a success, in my view. Some people take it like that, others can't wait to criticize it to sound smart. And even if they're right, there are many ways to contribute to the conversation, instead of just bashing his writing as many often do.

Re: Write simply (2021)

#78

Post by torstenvl »

tshaddox wrote: post #26
erk__ wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually this is a point if you are not writing in English. My dad used to do some technical translations and he disliked English namely because you cannot invent words like in Danish or German, where you can just put words together to make a new one.

We can and regularly do invent compound words in English too. We just write them with spaces between each word. As far as I know, this is just a minor difference in orthography with little effect on the ability to create (even arbitrarily long) compounds.

Exactly. I once read a linguistics text that called these a particular form of complex noun phrase, but that doesn't appear to be a standard term. Regardless, English allows you to use a noun as an adjective almost anywhere, without adding any suffix. A web font (which is not a web). A computer engineer (which is not a computer). A grocery trip (which is not a grocery). And so on. This is just like other Germanic languages, we just don't erase the space between components of the word.

Re: Write simply (2021)

#79

Post by vishnugupta »

paulpauper wrote: post #10

This may be good advice for an instruction manual or children's books, but I think good prose is something of an art in and of itself. Some of the most successful writers do the opposite. Look at the articles that go viral ..you see that the prose is varied and even complicated, not just simple. The best prose is that which conveys the intended message for the intended audience in the best way possible. I think it's…

Of late, I'm reading diverse authors, and I noticed that I get drawn to more aesthetically pleasant writings. So I'm beginning to pay more weightage and attention to the aesthetics of writing than before. Good content and pleasing aesthetics go together. It means the writer made an effort to make the writing beautiful besides bringing forth insightful points.

It could also be about appreciating subtler aspects of life as I grow older. Regardless, the net result is my impressions about "write simply" suggestions are exactly what you stated.

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