4 ms·

Nice read, but am I only one annoyed by titles like this one? “Why you’re not creative” subtly implies that you should be doing creative work and that if you ar

Nice read, but am I only one annoyed by titles like this one? “Why you’re not creative” subtly implies that you should be doing creative work and that if you aren’t, you’re doing something wrong. So many self-help articles on HN in particular seem designed to inspire this sort of guilt trip. Do creative work if you want to. Or don’t. Not everyone has to do everything. The answer to “why you’re not doing creative work” honestly could be “Because I don’t want to and I don’t have to.”

bregma 5y ago
The only thing that irks me more than articles (or headlines) written in the second person is articles written in the first person plural.
- ghaff 5y ago
  It depends on the context. If you're writing in the persona of speaking for your company, first person plural may make more sense than singular. Depending on the circumstances one or the other can feel more appropriate.
capn_duck 5y ago
Remember that you aren't necessarily the audience for this link. It was just posted on a link aggregator site.
- coldtea 5y ago
  Perhaps the parent's point is that nobody should be the "audience for this link"?
  - pc86 5y ago
    The audience is pretty clearly people who should be or want to be doing creative work, but aren't.
em-bee 5y ago
disagree. the title is not suggesting that you should be doing creative work. it didn't to me. it merely stating that you aren't, and it explains why. it's a statement not a question asking you to explain yourself. for those who actually do want to do creative work, the article has some good insights, some of which i'll be trying out myself.
g-erson 5y ago
If the article was titled "Why you don't catch many fish", do you think the article would need extra clarification that it shouldn't apply to people who don't like fishing?
pc86 5y ago
"Why you're not creative" isn't the title, and means something completely different than the title. If you see the title and it inspires guilt, then that's a personal problem. Either you should be doing creative work, and you aren't, in which case the article might be helpful. Or you shouldn't/don't need to do creative work, and if you still feel guilty nothing in the article - or truthfully, any article - is going to help.
layer8 5y ago
I was actually expecting the title to mean "why what you think is you doing creative work really isn’t".

bregma 5y ago

The only thing that irks me more than articles (or headlines) written in the second person is articles written in the first person plural.

ghaff 5y ago
It depends on the context. If you're writing in the persona of speaking for your company, first person plural may make more sense than singular. Depending on the circumstances one or the other can feel more appropriate.

capn_duck 5y ago

Remember that you aren't necessarily the audience for this link. It was just posted on a link aggregator site.

coldtea 5y ago
Perhaps the parent's point is that nobody should be the "audience for this link"?
- pc86 5y ago
  The audience is pretty clearly people who should be or want to be doing creative work, but aren't.

em-bee 5y ago

disagree. the title is not suggesting that you should be doing creative work. it didn't to me. it merely stating that you aren't, and it explains why. it's a statement not a question asking you to explain yourself. for those who actually do want to do creative work, the article has some good insights, some of which i'll be trying out myself.

g-erson 5y ago

If the article was titled "Why you don't catch many fish", do you think the article would need extra clarification that it shouldn't apply to people who don't like fishing?

pc86 5y ago

"Why you're not creative" isn't the title, and means something completely different than the title. If you see the title and it inspires guilt, then that's a personal problem. Either you should be doing creative work, and you aren't, in which case the article might be helpful. Or you shouldn't/don't need to do creative work, and if you still feel guilty nothing in the article - or truthfully, any article - is going to help.

layer8 5y ago

I was actually expecting the title to mean "why what you think is you doing creative work really isn’t".