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I'm personally really turned off by that particular writing style. Sometimes it annoys me so much that I close the tab right away, even though I was originally interested in the topic. That probably tells you more about me than about the authors. (Ha! I just made that comment about myself, too. Take that, bloggers!)
But the fact that I see this happening frequently now makes me wonder: is that perhaps a writing style that is taught in school somewhere? Certainly not in the place and at the time that I went to school but it could be that this style is perhaps actively encouraged somewhere else?
I'd be grateful for any insights / experiences.
Reading would be easier without the paywall
You may also find this extension useful https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
I think that goes for a lot of creative endeavors, and programming too for that matter. But I'm not sure that's very helpful advice when you must write, particularly about a topic you don't care as much about, need specific ideas/research for, and/or with a strict deadline. It's like "make something easier by doing it for your own satisfaction." Of course, but doesn't help if I'm doing something less interesting primarily for a paycheck.
Here's a question about possible cultural differences: I notice that a good number of blog posts I come across these days, that are actually about a technical topic, either start with or prominently feature the authors feelings toward the topic. This post is a great example for what I mean, it starts with "I love writing. Every little goddamn bit of it." I'm personally really turned off by that particular writing sty…
Sometimes, although rarely, this makes perfect sense, as in Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - but in practice everybody thinks they're special.
To summarize:
- Whenever you're reading/learning/researching/thinking something, you write down "fleeting" notes in your journal, just jotting down ideas you don't want to forget. It's effortless and natural, doesn't feel as scary as writing, you're not staring at the blank page, you're just collecting useful ideas as you live and work.
- Then you try to process these notes regularly (daily or weekly) - take the key insights you want to remember, add them to your "writing inbox", through the inbox and turn the notes into "evergreen atomic notes" - a cleaned up and organized version of your fleeting notes. You turn each useful idea into a single, concise note with a good title. One concept per note. Interlink the notes - link the note to related ideas, add tags, put notes into folders, whatever makes it easy to search through them later on.
- When it's time to write, you have an archive of all the most useful ideas you have learned, organized by subject, interlinked with each other. Now all you have to do is take several related notes, compose them into an article, edit and fill in the blanks.
So you never have to stare at the blank page. You naturally write as you live, then you organize your thoughts a little better into the evergreen notes, then you organize these notes into articles, videos, books, whatever you want to produce.
You can learn more about it in the amazing series of posts here: https://publish.obsidian.md/andymatuschak/Evergreen+notes
I got into the whole thing after learning about Obsidian (https://obsidian.md/), a cool app for writing and organizing such notes (no affiliation, I just like it).
I was already writing down all my notes in Editorial (a really cool iOS app, unfortunately hasn't been updated in a long time, 1Writer is a great alternative). But I would never reread them or turn them into anything useful to anyone. Taking the extra step of cleaning up and organizing my notes is very helpful, now I do this for everything - personal stuff, my work projects, everything Im learning about tech, writing, etc.
Here's a question about possible cultural differences: I notice that a good number of blog posts I come across these days, that are actually about a technical topic, either start with or prominently feature the authors feelings toward the topic. This post is a great example for what I mean, it starts with "I love writing. Every little goddamn bit of it." I'm personally really turned off by that particular writing sty…
Many people feel compelled to write in this way. They think that if they don't make it personal, the reader will get bored. It has to include some story you could relate to. A good example is Avi Loeb's Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth - for the first half of the book you can only wonder when the author stops talking about himself. Sometimes, although rarely, this makes perfect sense,…
If so, it makes you wonder if most people actually _do_ want to see such a personal touch in what they read -- no matter what the topic is.
Perhaps it's just me then who can't stand it, at least not when it's completely orthogonal to the topic at hand.
I can write 10000 words on the spot on any random word picked out of the dictionary. Even a one I don't know at all.
Friends loved to test me on this, picking up some BS topic and see if I can come up with a scenario or a song. Then after a few minutes of my rambling they get bored of course. Having something to say doesn't mean it's interesting.
My problem is rather to learn to shut up about things and accept it's usually wiser to not have an opinion on most things.
The vast majority of words do not need to be spoken or written, but it's hard to do for me.
Case in point: was this comment worth writing?
Here's a question about possible cultural differences: I notice that a good number of blog posts I come across these days, that are actually about a technical topic, either start with or prominently feature the authors feelings toward the topic. This post is a great example for what I mean, it starts with "I love writing. Every little goddamn bit of it." I'm personally really turned off by that particular writing sty…
The writer's backstory for the recipe is so inconsequential to my wanting that specific set of instructions. Yet there it is, every time.
I really never understood writer's block. I can write 10000 words on the spot on any random word picked out of the dictionary. Even a one I don't know at all. Friends loved to test me on this, picking up some BS topic and see if I can come up with a scenario or a song. Then after a few minutes of my rambling they get bored of course. Having something to say doesn't mean it's interesting. My problem is rather to learn…