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Write every day

mlafeldt.github.io

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Re: Write every day

#81

Post by ahmad19526 »

obstacle1 wrote: post #76
ahmad19526 wrote: post #69

I'm now going back to my daily writing routine that I've scantily kept up with. But I have some concerns. How does one improve their quality of writing when they are not at school? What I mean is, I can write, write, write and I know after a period of time I'll "better" than I was before. But without having people who scrutinize your work, who critique your grammar, and do all the things that teachers used to do for…

>But I also know believe that "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect". I'd reconsider that position for a number of reasons. Not the least of which being that it is a logical contradiction. Nobody is born knowing how to practice things. This is something we learn as we acquire skills, learn about goals, learn how to channel our energies towards meeting said goals, etc. Thus practice is itself…

Thanks! That was great feedback. I never really thought about that phrase beyond the surface level. I guess I'll just get writing!

Re: Write every day

#82

Post by ahmad19526 »

mareofnight wrote: post #74
ahmad19526 wrote: post #69

I'm now going back to my daily writing routine that I've scantily kept up with. But I have some concerns. How does one improve their quality of writing when they are not at school? What I mean is, I can write, write, write and I know after a period of time I'll "better" than I was before. But without having people who scrutinize your work, who critique your grammar, and do all the things that teachers used to do for…

Critique groups and beta readers?

I guess because I haven't been a regular blogger I haven't looked into getting a list of beta readers. Thanks for the advice!

Re: Write every day

#83

Post by eccstartup »

Most people cannot do it everyday, but I have got a solution -- pick up everyday. It means you keep the thing you find helpful in mind and try to do it everyday. Once failed, don't be frustrated, because most people will fail. What makes sense is that someone can pick that up afterwards to become someone.

Re: Write every day

#84

Post by baby »

KhalilK wrote: post #75
baby wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wrote my own application in french since 750w was charged after a month: www.3pages.fr it got pretty famous in France.

J'aime bien! What technologies did you use?

codeigniter, bootstrap, jQuery

Don't think I had to use anything else.

Re: Write every day

#85

Post by tomjen3 »

smokel wrote: post #17

I agree that writing is good exercise. However, it seems that some people think that achieving a high word count is a good thing. Please try to use as few words as possible to get your ideas across. See this as a friendly gesture to your audience, saving them time. Obviously, this does not hold for novels and fiction, where the reader actually likes to read. Perhaps I am a bit misguided in thinking that (technical) b…

This is one of the reasons why I love the draft (draftin.com) writer: you can track both words added and removed words, so refactoring your writing causes your score to go up that much faster than just writing.

Re: Write every day

#86

Post by tomjen3 »

sireat wrote: post #13

I will prove a counterexample to this point. I used 750words for almost a year but ultimately stopped by accident and have not been back since. The "do not break the chain" mechanism kept me going, but there were days when I had trouble filling out the word count. In the end I stopped, because it was a hassle and I did not see myself progressing in skill. Maybe if you have a clear goal in mind like writing a book wit…

That is why I use beeminder to track the things I want to do. I get really nerdy looking graphs and if I don't follow through with my goals I have to pay them money, which is a nice way to check if I really don't see the value in what I am doing, or if I just don't want to do it that day.

I gain no financial benefit from this endorsement, I just really like their service.

Re: Write every day

#87

Post by oAlbe »

npsimons wrote: post #65
shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

You might find this amusing: http://jezebel.com/every-healthy-morning-habit-you-should-ad... Please forgive the Gawker media owned link; it's worth it. On a more serious note, this also can be applied to the #YouCanLearnAnything campaign. Sure, it's a positive message, and probably true, but what to learn? I sympathize; what I've found helps is starting with two realizations: 1) The possibilities are quite literally…

> Please forgive the Gawker media owned link; it's worth it.

Why do you aplogize? Is Gawker media a bad source?

Re: Write every day

#88

Post by justysebitcoin »

tragic wrote: post #45
wiremine wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second this: reading all this can create a sense of guilt. I think for myself, the key is knowing that the guy who biked across India wasn't writing a novel. Or at least, he wasn't biking across India, writing a novel, and maintaining a 40+ hour job and raising a family. I'm a husband, father of two kids, am involved in my church, and own a house with a yard. So, "contributing to open source" and "writing every day…

> I think for myself, the key is knowing that the guy who biked across India wasn't writing a novel. Or at least, he wasn't biking across India, writing a novel, and maintaining a 40+ hour job and raising a family. Well exactly. A bit of back-of-the-envelope calculation tells me that (to sicken the GP) I write at least 30000 words every 5 months - and that's with a time investment of 3-5 hours on a Tuesday evening (I…

You don't contribute to open source because you think you need to contribute to open source. That only leads to "don't know where to start" paralysis.

You contribute to an open source project because it had a bug or lacked a feature you needed and you took care of it. There is no paralysis when you have laser-focus on a particular problem.

Re: Write every day

#89

Post by AnonJ »

orbifold wrote: post #31
shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

Well, the competitive nature of humans is both a curse and a blessing, in the end few if any of the things we do will have any long term impact on humanity, most of those will be desctructive, like depleting the resources of the planet or destroying the environment. If you set yourself the goal to have a meaningful impact, then lots of those "achievements" become meaningless.

I don't see anyone here talking about insidious, negative "competition" at least

Re: Write every day

#90

Post by AnonJ »

dragonwriter wrote: post #56
shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

> Someone has written 40K words in five months, someone has created a kernel at the age of 18, someone has made 365 days streak on github and someone has done a biking trip across India. I wish there was an easy way to avoid feeling guilty when you see other people's achievements. There is: accept and own your own past choices and move forward, and stop comparing your achievements to other people as a yardstick of pa…

You certainly have to make some trade offs. But as long as you achieved what you want to do, how could that cost be "unacceptable" in any sense? You expected it and wholeheartedly embraced its existence in the very first place!
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