Which books are best for learning good writing?
Writes and Write-Nots
71–80 of 158 posts
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#72Another (albeit optimistic) possibility: today we have an informal oral culture contrasted with a formal literary culture, so Graham perceives the latter as synonymous with thinking. However, before literacy was widespread there was, on top of the informal oral culture, also a formal oral culture, so maybe with the popularity of short video clips we might see a resurgence in structured speech?
If you observe the trend speech has actually devolved with the arrival of popular internet networks. Today's elites talk in a fashion that would embarrass even their immediate parents, let alone their ancestors. Just look at the quality of presidential debates and political discourse we've been having for the past decade. Not just in the US, but all over the world. The situation is perilous.
the simplification of speech and writing is a trend that had been going long before the advent of the Internet.
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#73I too wonder if the writing-is-thinking thesis holds. Does Han Kang (Nobel Prize in Literature, 2024) think through writing? Have I read something thrilling, funny, mysterious, spiritual, or revealing of human nature written by PG? No. He may well be correct about a particular subset of writing, but I do not take his views as authoritative about writing in general (nor am I convinced that hackers are just like painters).
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#74Which books are best for learning good writing?
Just write - but in seriousness, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser and Dennett's Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#75One of the best indications / talks on writing and thinking is Jordan Peterson - the best advice he gives anyone is to write - 5 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwjw2J6ByJo
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#76>in a couple decades there won't be many people who can write
seems quite wrong to me.
If anything the trend seems to go the other way - when I was younger pre internet most communication was face to face or voice over the phone.
Now the predominant thing seems text - sms, whatsapp, this text box I'm typing into now. I saw a stat the other day that online / app dating had gone from a minority to over 50% of how couple meet. And that is mostly a combination of some photos and text. Be able to write text or fade from the gene pool!
That said long form text may be different but those who write novels and the like were always a minority.
(source for the dating thing - not sure how accurate but kind of scary https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1fzqgvk/...)
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#77That writing is the only way to do deep, clear, thinking simply isn't true. Stephen Hawking is the first example that comes to mind. He developed a remarkable ability to perform complex calculations and visualize intricate mathematical concepts entirely in his mind. He once mentioned that his ALS diagnosis, which limited his physical abilities, led him to focus intensely on theoretical physics, as it required more in…
> That writing is the only way to do deep, clear, thinking simply isn't true. You're correct here. > Stephen Hawking is the first example that comes to mind. The post is obviously speaking of the general population or at best average professional, and in my opinion choosing one of the most brilliant exceptional scientific minds of our lifetimes is not a good counterargument for a piece that speaks of a potential prob…
As someone who teaches PhD students who are quite far beyond "average professional", I concur completely with PG on this one. Writing forces you to make very clear and concrete ideas that feel like they make sense but are still fuzzy. It's certainly not the only way, but it's the most common and easy way.
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just get going. Quoting https://randsinrepose.com/archives/your-writing/ : * Less than 1% of your writing will be life-changing. * 3% will be trivial to write. * 4% will strongly resonate with others in a way you didn’t expect. * 5% will be quite good. * 15% probably should’ve never been published. * 26% will elicit a reaction you did not expect. Positive or negative. * 28% will become vastly better because you chose…
>* 100% of your writing is worth your time. Just curious, but do you think my collective 20 years of random posts across 10+ social media platforms, often with thousands of posts per platform, has been worth my time?
Well, I think mine have. There were some weird tweets, but on average… yeah.
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#79>in a couple decades there won't be many people who can write seems quite wrong to me. If anything the trend seems to go the other way - when I was younger pre internet most communication was face to face or voice over the phone. Now the predominant thing seems text - sms, whatsapp, this text box I'm typing into now. I saw a stat the other day that online / app dating had gone from a minority to over 50% of how coupl…
10-15 years ago I think this take was correct, the Internet was about writing.
It isn't anymore, not for newer generations - e.g. Gen Z spending most of their time on Tiktok and phones, and not knowing how to use a word processor.
In the span of ~30 years pg is talking about I can absolutely imagine some job where you speak to the AI and it writes the documents for you and you never learned how to write one yourself. It will not be a good job but millions of people will hold it. They will not be able to write with much sophistication themselves ergo they will not be able to think with much sophistication either.
Online dating is not about writing. It was before Tinder, but it's not anymore. Like Instagram, it's about being skilled with photo filters and/or hiring a professional photographer. No one bothers to hire a profile writer - because no one reads the profile.
If the other person's photos are hawt you will click a button and the AI will send some funny jokes and if you're hawt too you'll share locations and shag. Idiocracy or some Eloi/Morlocks world will be real
Re: Writes and Write-Nots
#80Interesting, I just finished the manuscript of a sci-fi novel where one of the narratives is set in an idilic small town, with no scarcity, with AI systems making the life easy for everyone and where learning how to read and write is frowned upon.
Everyone uses voice interface, so writing is looked as an antiquated habit.