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I write for myself. To repeat an aphorism, I don’t write because I can write, I write because I can’t not write. I couldn’t even begin to confidently tell anyo

I write for myself. To repeat an aphorism, I don’t write because I can write, I write because I can’t not write. I couldn’t even begin to confidently tell anyone to read what I write. Statistically, 90% of my blog posts sink without a trace. My last post was about a novel but highly pessimum solution to a programming puzzle. Who ought to read that? And why? It was a pleasant diversion to write, and if someone finds it a pleasant diversion to read, great! But how could I tell anyone that they ought to read it? As it happens, I have been blogging for fourteen years, and if you throw enough spaghetti at the wall, some of it sticks. Thus, I have a small but durable reputation as an author. In that time, I have resisted the urge to closely track metrics and adjust my writing to improve its popularity. I’ve tried to get better at being me, without becoming a copy of any of the bloggers that are really popular. It’s my hobby, it’s supposed to be for me and for those who have their own reasons in finding it delightful.

braythwayt 8y ago
...All that being said, within the non-negotiable bounds of writing for myself, and speaking in my own authentic voice, there is lots of room to improve my writing. Structuring a post to be easier to digest isn’t just about writing for others, it is also a forcing function for structuring my own thoughts. In what order should I present this idea? What is essential, what is inessential, and what actually detracts from the essential idea? Questions like these work their way back to improving my own thinking about an idea, and that is part of why I write and what I gain from it. This is why I unapologetically revise my posts dozens of times when they hit HN or go viral on Twitter: The feedback offers a clue as to how well I’ve structured my thinking, and restructuring it helps me understand the subject better. Writing is rewriting. Without agreeing or disagreeing with any specific piece of advice in TFA, the general idea of applying some structure to writing to make it digestible nad to communicate your ideas clearly is valuable not just for the writing itself, but for your own thinking.

braythwayt 8y ago

...All that being said, within the non-negotiable bounds of writing for myself, and speaking in my own authentic voice, there is lots of room to improve my writing. Structuring a post to be easier to digest isn’t just about writing for others, it is also a forcing function for structuring my own thoughts. In what order should I present this idea? What is essential, what is inessential, and what actually detracts from the essential idea? Questions like these work their way back to improving my own thinking about an idea, and that is part of why I write and what I gain from it. This is why I unapologetically revise my posts dozens of times when they hit HN or go viral on Twitter: The feedback offers a clue as to how well I’ve structured my thinking, and restructuring it helps me understand the subject better. Writing is rewriting. Without agreeing or disagreeing with any specific piece of advice in TFA, the general idea of applying some structure to writing to make it digestible nad to communicate your ideas clearly is valuable not just for the writing itself, but for your own thinking.