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I didn't get my blog up and running until I a) started keeping a journal on 750words.com and b) started writing in a spiral-bound notebook every spare half-hour

by rexpop 10y ago

I didn't get my blog up and running until I a) started keeping a journal on 750words.com and b) started writing in a spiral-bound notebook every spare half-hour. Those two habits and https://blot.im https://blot.im made blogging nigh-effortless. Like dandruff, I get it for free.

ianamartin 10y ago
Oh my problem isn't that at all. I have no problem writing endless amounts of crap that no one will ever read. It's just that I really care about my writing, and I want it to have a perfect home. So I'm constantly writing and rewriting blog engines. In this case, the perfect is the enemy of no one. A blog engine is the one side-project that I don't just hack. It's my one and only place for writing pure, elegant code. And I won't let myself write at length again on someone else's platform until I get this exactly right. Everyone wins: I don't clutter the internet with inane crap; you aren't tempted to read it. If I ever decide to start publishing my writing, the best part of it will be the code that presents it.
- dragon_king 10y ago
  I was(am?) in the same boat as you. I don't like using other platforms because they don't do exactly what I want. I go through the same decision points while trying to maintain a todo list. I guess that is the drawback of being a developer, you know you can do better(for your usecase) job of developing a great application and eventually, writing a blog or maintaining a todo list becomes an excercise in yak shaving (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2est2c_yak-shaving_fun http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2est2c_yak-shaving_fun ). I am trying to get over this habit. Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.
potench 10y ago
Thanks for sharing this and introducing me to 750words, I just finished my first entry! The analysis provided after just a single writing session is awesome - I can't wait to see how this affects my writing, focus, and ability to communicate with myself and others. Did you see a shift in sentiment, focus or elsewhere in your analysis as you prepared to make your writings public? For instance, I notice a pretty even distribution of Emotion and Mindset which I imagine will become way more focused as I work towards writing in public.
- rexpop 10y ago
  The only writings I make public are short essays I write during the day about victories and frustrations at work. When I am following the "morning pages" habit, I am usually extremely short on focus. I am extremely pleased with how journaling improves my communication — when I find myself quoting that morning's pages, I get feedback on how decent my predictions were. I feel more prepared, having hypothesized these circumstances in the morning, the afternoon offers fewer surprises (and novelty still fits nicely in contrast).

by rexpop 10y ago

ianamartin 10y ago

Oh my problem isn't that at all. I have no problem writing endless amounts of crap that no one will ever read. It's just that I really care about my writing, and I want it to have a perfect home. So I'm constantly writing and rewriting blog engines. In this case, the perfect is the enemy of no one. A blog engine is the one side-project that I don't just hack. It's my one and only place for writing pure, elegant code. And I won't let myself write at length again on someone else's platform until I get this exactly right. Everyone wins: I don't clutter the internet with inane crap; you aren't tempted to read it. If I ever decide to start publishing my writing, the best part of it will be the code that presents it.

dragon_king 10y ago
I was(am?) in the same boat as you. I don't like using other platforms because they don't do exactly what I want. I go through the same decision points while trying to maintain a todo list. I guess that is the drawback of being a developer, you know you can do better(for your usecase) job of developing a great application and eventually, writing a blog or maintaining a todo list becomes an excercise in yak shaving (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2est2c_yak-shaving_fun http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2est2c_yak-shaving_fun ). I am trying to get over this habit. Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

potench 10y ago

Thanks for sharing this and introducing me to 750words, I just finished my first entry! The analysis provided after just a single writing session is awesome - I can't wait to see how this affects my writing, focus, and ability to communicate with myself and others. Did you see a shift in sentiment, focus or elsewhere in your analysis as you prepared to make your writings public? For instance, I notice a pretty even distribution of Emotion and Mindset which I imagine will become way more focused as I work towards writing in public.

rexpop 10y ago
The only writings I make public are short essays I write during the day about victories and frustrations at work. When I am following the "morning pages" habit, I am usually extremely short on focus. I am extremely pleased with how journaling improves my communication — when I find myself quoting that morning's pages, I get feedback on how decent my predictions were. I feel more prepared, having hypothesized these circumstances in the morning, the afternoon offers fewer surprises (and novelty still fits nicely in contrast).