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Writing. It helps to clarify your thinking. At your job, it will help you explain concepts to others and multiply your efforts. Externally, it can help make g

• afarrell 7y ago
  If you read the parent comment with feeling of frustration and dread, ask yourself: "Am I bad at writing a first draft? Or am I bad at editing my writing?". These are two different things. ----- For learning to edit a piece of writing you've already written, I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publishing/dp/0226899152 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publi... It is full of advice more actionable than Strunk and White. ----- For learning how to write a first draft without wanting to dig your nails into your arms or more drastic forms of self-harm, I recommend: 1) "Start with Why" -- Start each draft by writing your goal and then writing the "signs of success" which you can use to recognize making progress. I find a particularly motivating form of "why" is a description of a problem someone finds themselves in which they want advice about. Reddit is a good source of these if you want inspiration, but you might be better off giving advice to your future self. 2) Take inspiration from automated testing -- If you are anxious about some section being [maliciously] misinterpreted, write down that anxiety with a pointer to the section and a promise to yourself to have a trusted friend read it. 3) Question-Driven-Drafting -- Start with a question. Write the first flawed answer that comes to mind. Write the first question or objection that comes to mind from that answer. Write the first response that comes to mind from that etc... Don't delete. 4) Alternate focusing with exploring -- Set a pomodoro timer. Use my method from #3 or another to produce a bunch of text. When it goes off, congratulate yourself and meditate for 2 minutes. Then set another pomodoro timer and start to turn your ideas into a structured outline: Try to extract the one-sentence key point from the text you just wrote. Then try to build a pyramid-shaped hierarchy under it with the names of the supporting points. When this pomodoro ends, meditate again and start another rambling pomodoro based on the most interesting point. 5) Be willing to "overthink things" -- When you have a question, be willing to actually trust yourself that the question is worth answering. If someone else thinks the answer is obvious, just move on to ask someone else. If someone screams at you that your question is excuse-making, bullshit, or procrastinating, just move on from them. You no longer have parents nor teachers to endure and can write from your own desire to understand the world and communicate ideas. The confusion you notice in yourself is worthy not of ridicule but of sympathetic curiosity. 6) Go for a walk -- Its just a generally good idea. 7) Dictate into otter.ai -- It is as good a use for your time while walking as any. The resulting text will be heavy with misspellings, but you'll be able to edit it and it will restore your sense of confidence in your ability to generate ideas. 8) Work with a writing coach or therapist if you can find a good one. They might be expensive, but they're less expensive than getting fired because you handed in a blank performance self-evaluation.
• 112 7y ago
  This. Being able to think is the most underrated skill. There is no thinking without writing and drawing. I HIGHLY recommend reading Julian Shapiro's guide on writing: https://www.julian.com/guide/write/intro https://www.julian.com/guide/write/intro The market is shaping each generation. Unfortunately, it's pretty common to interact with engineers that don't think before doing, they just start doing with the hope of "figuring it out as we go". This leaves no room for beautiful, simple code. Is it a side-effect of the web boom? How much of this was the result of the PHP and JavaScript subcultures? Couldn't say.
  • afarrell 7y ago
    Its a side-effect of hearing stories of the other extreme of the dichotomy.