This is not the greatest essay in the world. No, This is just a tribute.
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The Best Essay
11–20 of 274 posts
Re: The Best Essay
#12> The best essay would be on the most important topic you could tell people something surprising about.
The premise is wrong (or at least not obviously right) IMO, so I have a hard time taking any of the rest of it seriously. Could the best essay not be the most emotionally moving? The best when heard aloud? The most convincing call to action? The most accurate? The highest grossing? Driving the most engagement? What about the topic (any topic) that you could tell the /most interesting surprise/ about?
If Paul Graham didn’t run this company he certainly would not make it to the front page for his lazy philosophy.
Re: The Best Essay
#13> The best essay would be on the most important topic you could tell people something surprising about. The premise is wrong (or at least not obviously right) IMO, so I have a hard time taking any of the rest of it seriously. Could the best essay not be the most emotionally moving? The best when heard aloud? The most convincing call to action? The most accurate? The highest grossing? Driving the most engagement? What…
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Re: The Best Essay
#14The hardest part of writing is it's hard to predict how it will be received. You cannot 'focus group' writing, unlike other mediums of information. Disney can predict with a high degree of certainty that its superhero movies will do well, as there is a large, built-in market for those movies, and they tend to be conceived on the same creative blueprint or foundation. Even its 'duds' are still profitable. But this is…
> Disney can predict with a high degree of certainty that its superhero movies will do well, as there is a large, built-in market for those movies, and they tend to be conceived on the same creative blueprint or foundation. Even its 'duds' are still profitable. Google something like "Marvel superhero fatigue". It seems that either the movie quality is decreasing or the audience is becoming more and more bored by thes…
"Customers are like roaches. You spray 'em and you spray 'em and they become immune after a while."
- David Lubars
Re: The Best Essay
#15> It probably wouldn't be about this year's lipstick colors.
Instead, the best movie [0] is about this.
Re: The Best Essay
#16First sentence reminded me of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lK4cX5xGiQ
Re: The Best Essay
#17> It probably wouldn't be about this year's lipstick colors. Instead, the best movie [0] is about this. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL-KQij0I8I
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Re: The Best Essay
#18The hardest part of writing is it's hard to predict how it will be received. You cannot 'focus group' writing, unlike other mediums of information. Disney can predict with a high degree of certainty that its superhero movies will do well, as there is a large, built-in market for those movies, and they tend to be conceived on the same creative blueprint or foundation. Even its 'duds' are still profitable. But this is…
Is it important to predict how it will be received? If you are trying to tailor your work for your audience, then you are on your way to being yet another content farm and when’s the last time any of those published something great?
I know Paul does have some trusted readers that he shares early drafts with. Maybe he uses those readers as his focus group?
Re: The Best Essay
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Re: The Best Essay
#20The hardest part of writing is it's hard to predict how it will be received. You cannot 'focus group' writing, unlike other mediums of information. Disney can predict with a high degree of certainty that its superhero movies will do well, as there is a large, built-in market for those movies, and they tend to be conceived on the same creative blueprint or foundation. Even its 'duds' are still profitable. But this is…
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