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Growing up, writing was often my least favourite thing to do. It still doesn't come "naturally" to me, but this year I starting using a process that makes it ea

Growing up, writing was often my least favourite thing to do. It still doesn't come "naturally" to me, but this year I starting using a process that makes it easier for me to "show up". I've basically tried to lower the barrier to entry. Curious to know what writing tips or processes others are using to strengthen their "writing muscle".

johnnysnow 7y ago
Journaling can help. At the end of the day, you can write about what was interesting or new about your day. It also can help to visualize the reader's response. The reader could be anyone, it could be you in the future long after you've forgotten that specific day. It could be a romantic partner. It could be a friend. Once you have a specific reader visualized, then journaling feels more like having a conversation.
slowmovintarget 7y ago
It may sound silly, but learn to maintain a fountain pen. If you stop writing, the ink dries out. So write a page every day. Yes, you'll be writing about the pen and paper a bit. But your brain will be rewired to move your hand. You'll need to learn the ritual of cleaning the pen with cool water (preferably distilled). You'll love the ritual of carefully opening the bottle of ink, and filling the converter (I recommend a blunt syringe). The bottle is very often beautiful in and of itself. Once you have refilled the pen (and cleaned it off), it begs to be used again. Get good paper, or at least paper able to stand up to proper liquid ink. Eventually, you will find that you're not writing about how well the ink is flowing, or whether the nib is scratchy. You'll be writing out your thoughts on the use of narrative for propaganda, or the challenges of raising children, or the sadness you feel at the change of season. Or you'll write about the pen. You'll get in the habit, though. It will clarify your thoughts. One last recommendation: put the date on each entry. You'll find it interesting later. Fountain pens 101 [1] is a good set of videos for learning about fountain pens. [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AEFDC6AC935BAFC https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AEFDC6AC935BAFC
- rexpop 7y ago
  > Yes, you'll be writing about the pen and paper a bit. My diary is full of entries about how I need to cut my fingernails because they're making it hard to type a diary entry.
ChipSkylark 7y ago
For me, this is one of the most valuable posts I have seen on hacker news. Thanks for sharing. I strengthen my writing muscle by writing down a foundational "anchor" concept at the top of the page and then writing about it in isolated chunks or paragraphs that use orthogonal approaches (i.e. changing the tone, verbosity, directness, amount of supplemental information). Then I consolidate and prune ideas until I have coherent content. This helps me form my writing style and keep it fresh and dynamic over time. I find that giving yourself the space to express things in new ways helps your audience see how you change as a person over time, which is cool because I feel like I can understand and connect with the author or artist better because I see changes in growth and trajectory.
- annamargot 7y ago
  I’d love to hear more about this approach. Could you expand on the process in your second paragraph? Also would love to hear how that process informs the experiences mentioned in your third paragraph.
  - ChipSkylark 7y ago
    Sure. I came up with this method on my own but I'm sure someone else has already tried something similar and documented it. Take a piece of paper (or google doc) and put a theme or idea in a single sentence or line of text at the top. Then write a chunk (I'd say 5-10 sentences, but it's arbitrary) below in whatever style naturally comes to you first. Re-read it and note any obvious characteristics about it that jump out at you (e.g. it reads like a research paper, it uses colloquial language, sentences pack a lot of information, my diction is terse, etc - whatever). Then you write a new white space-separated chunk below it where you play with a completely new style, or maybe go in the the opposite direction of something you noticed in the last chunk (be more blunt and terse when your last chunk was long and dense, or maybe introduce fun abstractions and colorful analogy when the last chunk reads like an arXiv paper). Once you feel ready to consolidate it, re-read them and cherry-pick things from each chunk that feel right to you as the writer and synthesize the text into a final piece you are happy with. I'd say you should also timebox consolidation so you actually have something workable in a timely manner. Often times I find that this method creates a balanced style for me, because it is my best effort at emulating my favorite style to read - a style where I never feel like I have the writer "figured out". Bear in mind that this is a completely arbitrary approach and is just how I like to do things. I came up with it from musicianship where you develop your own style by emulating one person, then another, then you have a bag of tricks to pull from when it comes time to decide who you want to be as a creator. Your style may change over time, and I think this method allows it to evolve based on what feels right to you vs. just following what has always worked or what others seem to be happy with.
wenc 7y ago
For me, the activation energy for writing used to be high because I found I couldn't muster up inspiration when I needed it. Then I realized something about myself: for me, inspiration is episodic. It comes in chunks, rarely all at once. So my solution was: 1) Observe the world, pay attention to things. 2) Jot down snippets of observations/ideas in a single Google Docs document (available on almost any platform). Don't try to organize it. Keep it really simple. The key is to keep it low effort and frictionless. 3) Look over the Google Docs document from time to time. When you have enough ideas coalescing in a cluster/theme, feel them out. When the cluster feels like it's ready i.e. you feel an emotional connection to it, start writing. Important tip: don't feel you have to finish writing in one sitting -- you can stop, let your writing sit, and keep re-clustering until you have something that is worth putting out there. Gerald Weinberg calls this the Fieldstone method [1] -- the basic idea is to continuously collect, and only write about what you care about. I think it's a useful approach. I personally don't find the streams-of-consciousness approach very compelling (didn't like Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway). Streams-of-consciousness is good for very artsy-fartsy, avant-garde type works, but to me good writing comes from a lifetime of collecting experiences, observations and ideas and coalescing them. On mistakes: I used to have a lot of anxiety about my grammar/mechanics because I'm sloppy, but I learned from an editing coach that "everybody could use a good editor". Focus on getting your ideas right -- if it's worth putting out there, you can always hire an editor to help tighten your copy. Development editors will help you build your piece, line/copy editors can fix your style and mechanics, fact-checkers can help with research on veracity. There are at least 9 types of editors, each for different stages of writing [2]. But you have to first have an idea that is worth communicating. [1] https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/hunt-gather-and-build-a-review-of-weinberg-on-writing-the-fieldstone-method.html https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/hunt-gather-... [2] https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-editing/ https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-editing/
- stephsmithio 7y ago
  Thank you for sharing this. I've also been using a similar frictionless observation and clustering method, but I never had a term to label it with. I'll be reading up more on the Fieldstone method.
CalChris 7y ago
I think THE most important tool useful towards better writing is better reading. Read the good stuff and avoid the crap. More Orwell and less Kerouac. Just read a lot of the good stuff. I'd say that a cook needs great taste first well before great culinary technique. If you can't taste the difference between crap and haute cuisine then mastering reduction will not help.
therealdrag0 7y ago
What's your schooling background? I also grew up with language being very unnatural to me. For me my biggest strides as a writer came from the grind of working hard on long-form essays (or short stories) that I cared about doing well. For me I was driven by producing something I was proud of or communicating arguments well. Sometimes these were research for university classes, sometimes they where theological/political essays for friends/facebook-arguments. There's nothing like spending time on a single piece to develop skills. If you start slow asking yourself questions like "How can I make this sentence/point more straightforward?" and mulling on it and revising, then your brain will start to develop those patterns quicker and you'll get better at putting thoughts directly to the page with less revision needed and you'll build confidence as you get a sense of your own style.

johnnysnow 7y ago

Journaling can help. At the end of the day, you can write about what was interesting or new about your day. It also can help to visualize the reader's response. The reader could be anyone, it could be you in the future long after you've forgotten that specific day. It could be a romantic partner. It could be a friend. Once you have a specific reader visualized, then journaling feels more like having a conversation.

slowmovintarget 7y ago

It may sound silly, but learn to maintain a fountain pen. If you stop writing, the ink dries out. So write a page every day. Yes, you'll be writing about the pen and paper a bit. But your brain will be rewired to move your hand. You'll need to learn the ritual of cleaning the pen with cool water (preferably distilled). You'll love the ritual of carefully opening the bottle of ink, and filling the converter (I recommend a blunt syringe). The bottle is very often beautiful in and of itself. Once you have refilled the pen (and cleaned it off), it begs to be used again. Get good paper, or at least paper able to stand up to proper liquid ink. Eventually, you will find that you're not writing about how well the ink is flowing, or whether the nib is scratchy. You'll be writing out your thoughts on the use of narrative for propaganda, or the challenges of raising children, or the sadness you feel at the change of season. Or you'll write about the pen. You'll get in the habit, though. It will clarify your thoughts. One last recommendation: put the date on each entry. You'll find it interesting later. Fountain pens 101 [1] is a good set of videos for learning about fountain pens. [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AEFDC6AC935BAFC https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AEFDC6AC935BAFC

rexpop 7y ago
> Yes, you'll be writing about the pen and paper a bit. My diary is full of entries about how I need to cut my fingernails because they're making it hard to type a diary entry.

ChipSkylark 7y ago

For me, this is one of the most valuable posts I have seen on hacker news. Thanks for sharing. I strengthen my writing muscle by writing down a foundational "anchor" concept at the top of the page and then writing about it in isolated chunks or paragraphs that use orthogonal approaches (i.e. changing the tone, verbosity, directness, amount of supplemental information). Then I consolidate and prune ideas until I have coherent content. This helps me form my writing style and keep it fresh and dynamic over time. I find that giving yourself the space to express things in new ways helps your audience see how you change as a person over time, which is cool because I feel like I can understand and connect with the author or artist better because I see changes in growth and trajectory.

annamargot 7y ago
I’d love to hear more about this approach. Could you expand on the process in your second paragraph? Also would love to hear how that process informs the experiences mentioned in your third paragraph.
- ChipSkylark 7y ago
  Sure. I came up with this method on my own but I'm sure someone else has already tried something similar and documented it. Take a piece of paper (or google doc) and put a theme or idea in a single sentence or line of text at the top. Then write a chunk (I'd say 5-10 sentences, but it's arbitrary) below in whatever style naturally comes to you first. Re-read it and note any obvious characteristics about it that jump out at you (e.g. it reads like a research paper, it uses colloquial language, sentences pack a lot of information, my diction is terse, etc - whatever). Then you write a new white space-separated chunk below it where you play with a completely new style, or maybe go in the the opposite direction of something you noticed in the last chunk (be more blunt and terse when your last chunk was long and dense, or maybe introduce fun abstractions and colorful analogy when the last chunk reads like an arXiv paper). Once you feel ready to consolidate it, re-read them and cherry-pick things from each chunk that feel right to you as the writer and synthesize the text into a final piece you are happy with. I'd say you should also timebox consolidation so you actually have something workable in a timely manner. Often times I find that this method creates a balanced style for me, because it is my best effort at emulating my favorite style to read - a style where I never feel like I have the writer "figured out". Bear in mind that this is a completely arbitrary approach and is just how I like to do things. I came up with it from musicianship where you develop your own style by emulating one person, then another, then you have a bag of tricks to pull from when it comes time to decide who you want to be as a creator. Your style may change over time, and I think this method allows it to evolve based on what feels right to you vs. just following what has always worked or what others seem to be happy with.

wenc 7y ago

For me, the activation energy for writing used to be high because I found I couldn't muster up inspiration when I needed it. Then I realized something about myself: for me, inspiration is episodic. It comes in chunks, rarely all at once. So my solution was: 1) Observe the world, pay attention to things. 2) Jot down snippets of observations/ideas in a single Google Docs document (available on almost any platform). Don't try to organize it. Keep it really simple. The key is to keep it low effort and frictionless. 3) Look over the Google Docs document from time to time. When you have enough ideas coalescing in a cluster/theme, feel them out. When the cluster feels like it's ready i.e. you feel an emotional connection to it, start writing. Important tip: don't feel you have to finish writing in one sitting -- you can stop, let your writing sit, and keep re-clustering until you have something that is worth putting out there. Gerald Weinberg calls this the Fieldstone method [1] -- the basic idea is to continuously collect, and only write about what you care about. I think it's a useful approach. I personally don't find the streams-of-consciousness approach very compelling (didn't like Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway). Streams-of-consciousness is good for very artsy-fartsy, avant-garde type works, but to me good writing comes from a lifetime of collecting experiences, observations and ideas and coalescing them. On mistakes: I used to have a lot of anxiety about my grammar/mechanics because I'm sloppy, but I learned from an editing coach that "everybody could use a good editor". Focus on getting your ideas right -- if it's worth putting out there, you can always hire an editor to help tighten your copy. Development editors will help you build your piece, line/copy editors can fix your style and mechanics, fact-checkers can help with research on veracity. There are at least 9 types of editors, each for different stages of writing [2]. But you have to first have an idea that is worth communicating. [1] https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/hunt-gather-and-build-a-review-of-weinberg-on-writing-the-fieldstone-method.html https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/hunt-gather-... [2] https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-editing/ https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-editing/

stephsmithio 7y ago
Thank you for sharing this. I've also been using a similar frictionless observation and clustering method, but I never had a term to label it with. I'll be reading up more on the Fieldstone method.

CalChris 7y ago

I think THE most important tool useful towards better writing is better reading. Read the good stuff and avoid the crap. More Orwell and less Kerouac. Just read a lot of the good stuff. I'd say that a cook needs great taste first well before great culinary technique. If you can't taste the difference between crap and haute cuisine then mastering reduction will not help.

therealdrag0 7y ago

What's your schooling background? I also grew up with language being very unnatural to me. For me my biggest strides as a writer came from the grind of working hard on long-form essays (or short stories) that I cared about doing well. For me I was driven by producing something I was proud of or communicating arguments well. Sometimes these were research for university classes, sometimes they where theological/political essays for friends/facebook-arguments. There's nothing like spending time on a single piece to develop skills. If you start slow asking yourself questions like "How can I make this sentence/point more straightforward?" and mulling on it and revising, then your brain will start to develop those patterns quicker and you'll get better at putting thoughts directly to the page with less revision needed and you'll build confidence as you get a sense of your own style.