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What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

bennesvig.com

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Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#51

Post by sanoli »

npsimons wrote: post #10
marknutter wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consistency isn't everything. If you're consistently doing ineffective things it can be as bad as inconsistently doing very effective things. Doing nothing but burpees twice a day a year might make you feel like you've accomplished something, but it's not going to be nearly as effective as a varied, intense workout regiment with specific goals.

Doing burpees twice a day a year is better than not doing any exercise at all. True, it's best to have a goal, and to push yourself, but sometimes just building the habit is the first and hardest step.

Plus, if you want to get good at doing burpees, I bet you'd get pretty good after a year.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#52

Post by tep »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #24

I'm 30 days away from finishing my second attempt at a 365 day photo project[1] (where you take a photo every day for an entire year). Interestingly, everything[2] Ben writes about writing 750 words a day holds true for my project. I suppose I'll have to do a writeup on January 1st after I finish this one and kick off the next one. 1. Process over product Totally agree. Being absolutely comfortable with the technical…

great list and wonderful photos!

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#53

Post by gbog »

LambdaAlmighty wrote: post #47
gbog wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. This is oh-so wrong. Haven't you heard of people working inconsistently? Haven't you heard of activities that just won't come to your hand? If you are a real poet or writer, you might very well be completely dry and it will be quite impossible for you to write a single word on one page for months, even years! And then maybe the source of inspirati…

"You're there now doing the thing on paper. You're not killing the goose, you're just producing an egg. So I don't worry about inspiration, or anything like that. It's a matter of just sitting down and working. I have never had the problem of a writing block. I've heard about it. I've felt reluctant to write on some days, for whole weeks, or sometimes even longer. I'd much rather go fishing. for example. or go sharpe…

Well okay, Frank Herbert did not have the writing block. Against how many writers who have?

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#54

Post by robmclarty »

dredmorbius wrote: post #25
robmclarty wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mostly agree with you. The only point I'm hesitant about is the idea that feedback is absolutely necessary. I think feedback can be both good and bad; bad in the sense that things like originality, uniqueness, and novelty might be averaged out into blandness. I think I would say "reflection" instead of "feedback", which can encompass both internal and external reflection, without which no change (or improvement) ca…

The only point I'm hesitant about is the idea that feedback is absolutely necessary. Improvement is a process of variation, selection, and inheritance. That's the fundamental process of natural selection, but it's applicable across a huge multitude of domains. For process improvement, the "inheritence" would be your memory / neural pathway strengthening of the activity. A challenge with behavioral modifications are w…

Improvement is a process of variation, selection, and inheritance.

I don't think anyone in the evolution racket ever claimed that natural selection meant things were improving. They might be balancing themselves out and adapting to an ever-changing environment, but that doesn't mean it's "better" than what it was (whatever "better" means); just differently oriented to favour survival. And like you said, "if you get in the habit of writing crap, you'll get really good at writing crap".

My point was to be wary of (I should have been more specific) outside feedback; to be careful not to dilute your personal artistic expression in favour of popular opinion.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#55

Post by robmclarty »

npsimons wrote: post #23
robmclarty wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mostly agree with you. The only point I'm hesitant about is the idea that feedback is absolutely necessary. I think feedback can be both good and bad; bad in the sense that things like originality, uniqueness, and novelty might be averaged out into blandness. I think I would say "reflection" instead of "feedback", which can encompass both internal and external reflection, without which no change (or improvement) ca…

Feedback may not be absolutely necessary in all disciplines (endeavors? arts? crafts?), but for some things it can be vital. I recently found out that discs in my lower back are closer together than they should be, and my spine is slightly out of alignment in two planes, probably because of bad posture (the day job) and incorrect form during high intensity workouts (which I need to even break a sweat). I'm thinking t…

I was simply trying to say that feedback is sufficient, but not necessary for the creation of art.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#56

Post by nsmartt »

gbog wrote: post #53
LambdaAlmighty wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You're there now doing the thing on paper. You're not killing the goose, you're just producing an egg. So I don't worry about inspiration, or anything like that. It's a matter of just sitting down and working. I have never had the problem of a writing block. I've heard about it. I've felt reluctant to write on some days, for whole weeks, or sometimes even longer. I'd much rather go fishing. for example. or go sharpe…

Well okay, Frank Herbert did not have the writing block. Against how many writers who have?

From the passage, it seems that Frank Herbert did have writer's block and chose to write anyway.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#57

Post by aaronbrethorst »

instakill wrote: post #45
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #24

I'm 30 days away from finishing my second attempt at a 365 day photo project[1] (where you take a photo every day for an entire year). Interestingly, everything[2] Ben writes about writing 750 words a day holds true for my project. I suppose I'll have to do a writeup on January 1st after I finish this one and kick off the next one. 1. Process over product Totally agree. Being absolutely comfortable with the technical…

Your photos are amazing.

thank you :)

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#58

Post by dredmorbius »

robmclarty wrote: post #54
dredmorbius wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only point I'm hesitant about is the idea that feedback is absolutely necessary. Improvement is a process of variation, selection, and inheritance. That's the fundamental process of natural selection, but it's applicable across a huge multitude of domains. For process improvement, the "inheritence" would be your memory / neural pathway strengthening of the activity. A challenge with behavioral modifications are w…

Improvement is a process of variation, selection, and inheritance. I don't think anyone in the evolution racket ever claimed that natural selection meant things were improving . They might be balancing themselves out and adapting to an ever-changing environment, but that doesn't mean it's "better" than what it was (whatever "better" means); just differently oriented to favour survival. And like you said, "if you get…

that doesn't mean it's "better" than what it was

Robert Pirsig wrote a whole book on the nature of Quality...

In the evolutionary sense, "better" means "more fit for survival". Which is to say it's an empirical test. The adaptations which are the "best" are those which survive to create offspring.

In human affairs the question becomes more complex, and can be subjective. In part it depends on the environment and success criteria you've established. Are you trying to inform? To entertain? To be commercially successful? To pitch your startup? To expand your own understanding?

Not quite writing, but related: Jacob Nielsen's approach to Web UI testing is one that I've long been impressed by. Rather than dissect a design into its components and assess those individually, he has a very simple, and effective, test: assess the suitability to task of the interface. Define what it is you want the user to do and let them attempt to do it, using different designs. See which is the most successful. After you've identified which is better, you can look at the differences between the designs (or texts) and figure out why one succeeds where the other doesn't. It's simple, highly empirical, and, by focusing on goals rather than means wraps up a huge bundle of variables that would otherwise cloud assessment.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#59

Post by npsimons »

robmclarty wrote: post #55
npsimons wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feedback may not be absolutely necessary in all disciplines (endeavors? arts? crafts?), but for some things it can be vital. I recently found out that discs in my lower back are closer together than they should be, and my spine is slightly out of alignment in two planes, probably because of bad posture (the day job) and incorrect form during high intensity workouts (which I need to even break a sweat). I'm thinking t…

I was simply trying to say that feedback is sufficient, but not necessary for the creation of art.

In some fields, and at some levels of mastery, yes, feedback may not be necessary. If someone is truly at the top of their craft, pushing the bounds, with no superiors or peers, feedback could be destructive. I posit that most people aren't at this level, and those who think they are probably aren't. Even so, contemplation would probably be a good idea, but that's probably already happening in those cases anyway.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#60

Post by Nicholas_C »

Funny how people recommend writing X number of words per day, but no one ever recommends saying to program Y amount of lines each day, as it supposedly builds bad habits.

Why wouldn't writing X number of words per day build bad habits as well? Honest question.

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