21–26 of 26 posts
Human in the loop, I like it. Next step: real-time unit-texts!
This email passed unit tests. I would love gmail (or any mail composing tool) to trigger my defined list of unit tests whenever I click on "send". Something similar to OP. For me it would probably be: - the email must be direct and concise - the email must be respectful of the recipient and of anyone else would could read - the email must use proper English And the AI would give suggestions to reach the goals if some…
There are a couple of things I'd like to do next:
- make it into a public API - so that it's easier to create plugins; - provide multiple "blueprints" for different types of text (in this case, for emails).
I think with these 2 features it should then be trivial to make it available in email clients, or as a browser extension.
I've been doing something similar with my drafts ( https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2025/01/12/1730 ) but have found that if I follow the LLM's recommendations all the time my writing becomes bland and formulaic.
Meta blogs—aka blogs about blogging—are a common theme on the Hacker News front page. So are blogs about making blogs. I’m not denigrating anyone’s effort here, but the greatest trick behind blogging consistently is simply picking up the keyboard and starting to write. There’s no other secret sauce. As you write more, you’ll find your own style and the set of methods that work for you. This is one thing I’ve learned…
I see this as a signal. Many would like to write more, but they don't. I met quite a few developers at a conference last week, and did a rather statistically insignificant survey. I didn't get a single one to say they enjoyed writing. However, a good 80% said they would like to write more.
> the greatest trick behind blogging consistently is simply picking up the keyboard and starting to write
This reminded me of this post[1] from a few months ago. "Simply" doing something is usually not that simple, for whatever reason.
I think putting some structure to a process, defining a clear goal, is a good way to learn.
Finally, I really don't believe in the whole "writing for myself" thing, sorry. In fact, I used to think the same, until I realised it was (at least for me) sour grapes. Personally, when it truly is for myself, it stays in my Logseq journal.
I now "write for an audience". I try to imagine who I'm writing for, what they know, why they may be interested, and what I want to share with them. If I publish something, it is because I think somebody may care.
Then, I'm not really bothered if nobody reads what I write (or build). Meaning, I don't think I'm worthless or what I'm doing is useless when I get ignored. But I do consider it as some valuable feedback: if I broadcast something and get 0 replies, maybe I'm not building the right thing, or I am writing about something that nobody really cares about. Or I just presented it in a very poor way, and I can then figure out how to do better next time. Which is why I do think it's wise to spend some time reflecting and perfecting our craft but hey, whatever works for you!
Having said that, really happy for you that you manage to write so much, I wish I were able to be that productive!
[1]: Stop saying "just" (2019) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42038139