Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

To become a better writer, read as much as you can

nappertime.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 280 posts

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#221

Post by caseyohara »

bluebarbet wrote: post #125
PaulRobinson wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the old quip goes: people don’t want to be writers, they want to have published a book. You can turn this around as well: people don’t want to read, they want to be well read. The difference is “effort and process” versus a status. People want the label, but don’t want to do the work to get there.

Nicely put. When I read, "I always knew I wanted to be a writer", I always think to myself, "Oh yeah? But did you know what you wanted to write?" Anecdotally, it feels like I've seen that line in a whole bunch of early-20th-century biographies and journalism - back at height of the profession's prestige, perhaps not coincidentally.

It's perfectly normal to be drawn to a field without knowing exactly what you want to do in it.

"I always knew I wanted to be a doctor" ... "Oh yeah? But did you know what medical discipline you wanted to practice?"

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#222

Post by pulkitsh1234 »

vintagedave wrote: post #63

> Why be a writer if you don’t love reading? Why devote your intellectual and emotional energy to creating a book, when it’s a form you’re not invested in? Why write, when you aren’t steeped in wonder of storytelling? This is the key point, I think. I've seen the same as the author: people who want to be writers but rarely read books. And I don't get it. I recently finished a novel (now shopping around for agents, wh…

It's the same thing with Ted Talks, it has become a vanity metric.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#223

Post by beej71 »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #152

I have an even better golden rule: to become a better writer, actually write as much as you can. A real example. I read A TON, since I was a kid (I'm close to 50 years old now). I used to write a lot. I even wrote two semi-decent novels, among other things. I haven't written much in the last 10-12 years. Now I want to start a little side project, in which I will write a letter to about one hundred people, print it an…

Yeah, it's gotta be both, I agree.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#224

Post by beej71 »

I bought an Xteink X4 a few months ago and it's constantly stuck to the back of my phone. I've really picked up my reading pace since then. If I have 5 minutes, I'm in a book.

I did read on my phone a bit before that, but somehow found it not compelling enough to keep up with. Maybe the LCD screen? Maybe the fact that it was a phone? Not sure.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#225

Post by BeetleB »

throwrioawfo wrote: post #122
WhompingWindows wrote: post #117

Counterpoint: To become a better writer, write as much as you can. Reading gives you a flavor, a taste, a style, it allows you to occupy the thoughts of another human. But getting your thoughts written down? That's writing, not reading. Actually practicing the art of writing is better for your craft than reading someone else's writing. Matthias Wandel a famous woodworker on YT says it: most of his audience are watchi…

Both reading and writing are necessary, but writing alone is not sufficient.

Yes, but there's a significant asymmetry with the advice usually given. I hear "Read a lot" about 10x more than "Write a lot".

I've been reading a lot for decades. I'm a crappy writer. There is a saturation point.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#226

Post by pessimizer »

KineticLensman wrote: post #123
tokyoseb wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. As a young voracious reader I used to think that more reading is an unmitigated good until I came across Schopenhauer and his aphorisms. I try now to be more selective, life is short, and to engage more deeply with what I read. "The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some…

I can see his point that it is worth learning to think for yourself, but if you then try to publish your thoughts without understanding what else is out there (e.g. by reading about it), the results could be very embarrassing. This would seem to apply in both philosophy (which I'm assuming Schopenhauer was discussing) and (say) genre fiction. Incidentally, having quickly scanned some of Schopenhauer's actual writing…

> If I'd come across these first I'd be very reluctant, rightly or wrongly, to uncritically accept his views on other subjects.

You don't want people to use this sort of criteria to judge arguments. Not just because it's ad hominem, but also for selfish reasons - your opinion that after a "quick scan" one should dismiss Schopenhauer's philosophical thought (his specialty) because he shared a common contemporary opinion on the nature of women (not his specialty) reflects badly on you. If somebody could reasonably dismiss an unrelated argument that you made based on that, your arguments would be ignored regardless of their merit.

Also, people would wonder if you have dismissed all of the writings and discoveries of sexists and racists; if you have then you are obviously uneducated, and if you haven't then your exceptions imply the shape of your own specific racism and sexism. It's a no-win situation for you.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#227

Post by hombre_fatal »

buxwash__5 wrote: post #206
philipov wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mass is more than the sum of its parts, and if only a small minority exercise critical thinking they will be overwhelmed by the whole. As the great comic wrote - those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, but those who learn from history are doomed to stand by helplessly as everyone else repeats it. And furthermore, a democracy can not survive if the majority of the voter base is incapable of cri…

For someone literate you should probably know better. First of all the Patriots were not even a simple majority. Turns out you don't need a majority to win what is basically a war of insurgency. There are several modern analogs that reflect this reality. Second of all the country was founded by elites. It wasn't that farmers could do critical thinking (whatever that really means) it was that the punitive British resp…

These remarks about how they'd agree with you if only they'd read more or how they aren't as superior to others as they think, these make your comment worse and emotional. Just make your case like you would in any other comment. If it's persuasive, then you look right and they look misinformed.

This kind of response is why we can't talk about all sorts of hot button topics on HN: people get personal. I'm sometimes guilty of it myself.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#229

Post by analog8374 »

ChrisGreenHeur wrote: post #95

To be a good writer - have something to say. To have something to say - live an interesting life. It’s not easy to live an interesting life by sitting in a chair and reading a book.

To be a good writer you must also love writing. But writing isn't naturally lovable.

You rarely hear much from those guys who don't love writing, because they didn't write.

Re: To become a better writer, read as much as you can

#230

Post by jake_and_fatman »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #117

Counterpoint: To become a better writer, write as much as you can. Reading gives you a flavor, a taste, a style, it allows you to occupy the thoughts of another human. But getting your thoughts written down? That's writing, not reading. Actually practicing the art of writing is better for your craft than reading someone else's writing. Matthias Wandel a famous woodworker on YT says it: most of his audience are watchi…

Reading is going to Whole Foods. Writing is living off the land.
Post reply on HN