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> I wake up daily excited to write. When work is a dread, or when something unhappy pops up, some writing will always bring in positive energy into me. I don’t

> I wake up daily excited to write. When work is a dread, or when something unhappy pops up, some writing will always bring in positive energy into me. I don’t dread writing. In fact, I can’t stop myself from writing! I fear we are built different.

xrd 4y ago
I wrote a book for O'Reilly. It was grueling and I really struggled with it. The only thing that worked was following the Jerry Seinfeld "Don't break the chain" rule: promise yourself you will write every day, and mark it on your calendar each time you do, and never let there be a gap. It doesn't matter from where you start. If you do this, you'll accomplish more than you ever thought you could. You aren't built different.
- joeberon 4y ago
  Yes they are built different: one person has no struggles writing and actively loves it, cannot stop doing it; the other finds it effortful and painful. Those two people will have vastly different experiences writing the book. The former will gain energy and feel great, the latter will feel pressured and depressed. We are not all the same, we are all built different, don’t ignore this reality
  - xcambar 4y ago
    That doesn't invalidate GP's comment. Even if you struggle, having a little commitment every day helps building habits and actually relieves the struggle (because a habit creates familiarity and ease). The "we're all different" part plays a role in how long it takes to adapt and bind to this new/building habit.
    - joeberon 4y ago
  - lelanthran 4y ago
    >> You aren't built different. > Yes they are built different: one person has no struggles writing and actively loves it, cannot stop doing it; the other finds it effortful and painful. GP probably worded it poorly; yes, we're all built different, but all the successful authors who spoke about their experience all expressed similar struggles. Terry Pratchett said once (can't be bothered to look for the exact quote) that he literally had to force himself to sit in front of the keyboard for a minimum time each night and type anything, just to get the groove started. Stephen King said a similar thing in Danse Macabre. When it comes to software, Joel Spolsky in his JoelOnSoftware blog said the same thing - Fire and Motion is your friend (https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/). When it comes to achieving something[1], you need to "not break the chain". You need to force yourself to start on it each day. After maybe 30m of doing it you'll get into the groove and continue with less effort for the day. [1] The actual "Something" is not important. Spend 30m each day practising guitar and eventually you'll be good enough to be in a band. Mark off a time slot on your calendar every day to spend working on your side-project, and ensure that you have nothing booked after that time-slot, and eventually you'll release your product. Force yourself to start typing into your book-in-progress for not less than[2] 30m after dinner every single day and I assure you, you will have a completed book in two years. [2] My experience is that if I force myself to spend not less than 30m on something, by the time the 30m expires, I get into the groove and can run in that rut all day if necessary. Getting into that groove is the hard part, and is probably why work productivity for most devs is about 10% less than side-project productivity - at work you are constantly yanked out of the rut.
    - ohlookabird 4y ago
      Absolutely! Noticing that it usually takes ~20min for me of getting into the groove was a profound revelation for me a few years ago. I noticed a pattern that if keep on powering through those initial 20min, there is a good chance you can continue being productive for a few hours or even the whole day.
      - baby 4y ago
        That’s what makes pomodoro so powerful imo. I only need it to start the day, then I can drop it.
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    Then better to find the thing that energizes you. For me it is getting to know a good framework like NextJS and working on small solo projects. For me it is not writing books … I find it fairly tedious. Nor is it the typical day job of old complicated codebased and small incremental improvements on big established software products.
- prawn 4y ago
  I wrote some chapters for Apress/Glasshouse or whoever it was many years back. By the end of the editing process, I had a "THINK OF THE MONEY" sign taped to the top of my CRT display. And there wasn't even that much money! I grew to detest the gig by the end of it.
- latexr 4y ago
  > the Jerry Seinfeld "Don't break the chain" rule Jerry Seinfeld, by his own admission, didn’t invent that: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ujvrg/jerry_seinfeld_here_i_will_give_you_an_answer/ceiugt5/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ujvrg/jerry_seinfeld...
  - xrd 4y ago
    I'm so excited to learn this. And, that he thinks it is a terrible idea. Maybe the takeaway is that you have to trick (or lie to) your brain somehow when you want to do something bigger than you can imagine. Maybe this is why some really nutty people have done amazing things.
swsieber 4y ago
See also where Brandon Sanderson's (an author) guilty pleasure and stress reliever is writing more (in the form of things he wasn't intending to write)
- treeman79 4y ago
  That dude is a machine. He wrote 4 secret novels during the pandemic on top of several regular ones.
  - saberdancer 4y ago
    I'm quite intrigued by his system of writing. It's nothing magical, he works on it hard and the process is roughly connecting various ideas together. He finds interesting ideas and write them down and then when the time is to go for a book, he tries to find ideas and concepts that work together. He then writes a rough outline of a book and then goes and fills in chapters after which he gets multiple reviews/revisions before it goes out. Sounds almost like getting a rough requirements or ideas, then writing a more detailed specification and finally fully developed software that goes through rigorous testing and refinement. It's quite different to how I thought most writers write. My assumption it's more straightforward with little preparation.
    - treeman79 4y ago
      Depends a lot on the author. The best ones have a plot line that they follow. But many major authors produce a book every 1 to 5 to 10 years. Game of Thrones being the big example.
- codeflow2202 4y ago
  That's the name I think of every time someone talks about constant writing. He admits that he is emotionally very stable and doesn't suffer of ups and downs as most of the other writers.
TMWNN 4y ago
>> I wake up daily excited to write. When work is a dread, or when something unhappy pops up, some writing will always bring in positive energy into me. I don’t dread writing. In fact, I can’t stop myself from writing! >I fear we are built different. Isaac Asimov was like Greg Lim: >[T]he only thing about myself that I consider to be severe enough to warrant psychoanalytic treatment is my compulsion to write ... That means that my idea of a pleasant time is to go up to my attic, sit at my electric typewriter (as I am doing right now), and bang away, watching the words take shape like magic before my eyes.
golergka 4y ago
I'm the same as author in regards to writing music. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with promotion and other stuff, so after 15 years of writing music I released almost nothing and gave close to no listeners. You can't get successful only doing what you love. You'll still have to do a lot of things you hate.
- corobo 4y ago
  Well you gotta release the stuff for people to listen to it You can’t get successful keeping it to yourself for sure
coolsunglasses 4y ago
My experience writing a 1,200 page technical book was similar to xrd's. It was worth it in the end but I'm not doing it again either. Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't break the chain" is good. I did take days off though (on average, 1 a week). I found this book very helpful even though the genre of book was radically different: https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp...
- baby 4y ago
  Wrote the latest applied crypto book over two years and a half. I love writing, and I write all the time, but that was extremely tough on me. I would not do it again. Real-World Cryptography https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617296716/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1PQDTPBFKT308PJQZ20X https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617296716/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1P...

xrd 4y ago

I wrote a book for O'Reilly. It was grueling and I really struggled with it. The only thing that worked was following the Jerry Seinfeld "Don't break the chain" rule: promise yourself you will write every day, and mark it on your calendar each time you do, and never let there be a gap. It doesn't matter from where you start. If you do this, you'll accomplish more than you ever thought you could. You aren't built different.

joeberon 4y ago
Yes they are built different: one person has no struggles writing and actively loves it, cannot stop doing it; the other finds it effortful and painful. Those two people will have vastly different experiences writing the book. The former will gain energy and feel great, the latter will feel pressured and depressed. We are not all the same, we are all built different, don’t ignore this reality
- xcambar 4y ago
  That doesn't invalidate GP's comment. Even if you struggle, having a little commitment every day helps building habits and actually relieves the struggle (because a habit creates familiarity and ease). The "we're all different" part plays a role in how long it takes to adapt and bind to this new/building habit.
  - joeberon 4y ago
- lelanthran 4y ago
  >> You aren't built different. > Yes they are built different: one person has no struggles writing and actively loves it, cannot stop doing it; the other finds it effortful and painful. GP probably worded it poorly; yes, we're all built different, but all the successful authors who spoke about their experience all expressed similar struggles. Terry Pratchett said once (can't be bothered to look for the exact quote) that he literally had to force himself to sit in front of the keyboard for a minimum time each night and type anything, just to get the groove started. Stephen King said a similar thing in Danse Macabre. When it comes to software, Joel Spolsky in his JoelOnSoftware blog said the same thing - Fire and Motion is your friend (https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/). When it comes to achieving something[1], you need to "not break the chain". You need to force yourself to start on it each day. After maybe 30m of doing it you'll get into the groove and continue with less effort for the day. [1] The actual "Something" is not important. Spend 30m each day practising guitar and eventually you'll be good enough to be in a band. Mark off a time slot on your calendar every day to spend working on your side-project, and ensure that you have nothing booked after that time-slot, and eventually you'll release your product. Force yourself to start typing into your book-in-progress for not less than[2] 30m after dinner every single day and I assure you, you will have a completed book in two years. [2] My experience is that if I force myself to spend not less than 30m on something, by the time the 30m expires, I get into the groove and can run in that rut all day if necessary. Getting into that groove is the hard part, and is probably why work productivity for most devs is about 10% less than side-project productivity - at work you are constantly yanked out of the rut.
  - ohlookabird 4y ago
    Absolutely! Noticing that it usually takes ~20min for me of getting into the groove was a profound revelation for me a few years ago. I noticed a pattern that if keep on powering through those initial 20min, there is a good chance you can continue being productive for a few hours or even the whole day.
    - baby 4y ago
      That’s what makes pomodoro so powerful imo. I only need it to start the day, then I can drop it.
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  Then better to find the thing that energizes you. For me it is getting to know a good framework like NextJS and working on small solo projects. For me it is not writing books … I find it fairly tedious. Nor is it the typical day job of old complicated codebased and small incremental improvements on big established software products.
prawn 4y ago
I wrote some chapters for Apress/Glasshouse or whoever it was many years back. By the end of the editing process, I had a "THINK OF THE MONEY" sign taped to the top of my CRT display. And there wasn't even that much money! I grew to detest the gig by the end of it.
latexr 4y ago
> the Jerry Seinfeld "Don't break the chain" rule Jerry Seinfeld, by his own admission, didn’t invent that: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ujvrg/jerry_seinfeld_here_i_will_give_you_an_answer/ceiugt5/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ujvrg/jerry_seinfeld...
- xrd 4y ago
  I'm so excited to learn this. And, that he thinks it is a terrible idea. Maybe the takeaway is that you have to trick (or lie to) your brain somehow when you want to do something bigger than you can imagine. Maybe this is why some really nutty people have done amazing things.

swsieber 4y ago

See also where Brandon Sanderson's (an author) guilty pleasure and stress reliever is writing more (in the form of things he wasn't intending to write)

treeman79 4y ago
That dude is a machine. He wrote 4 secret novels during the pandemic on top of several regular ones.
- saberdancer 4y ago
  I'm quite intrigued by his system of writing. It's nothing magical, he works on it hard and the process is roughly connecting various ideas together. He finds interesting ideas and write them down and then when the time is to go for a book, he tries to find ideas and concepts that work together. He then writes a rough outline of a book and then goes and fills in chapters after which he gets multiple reviews/revisions before it goes out. Sounds almost like getting a rough requirements or ideas, then writing a more detailed specification and finally fully developed software that goes through rigorous testing and refinement. It's quite different to how I thought most writers write. My assumption it's more straightforward with little preparation.
  - treeman79 4y ago
    Depends a lot on the author. The best ones have a plot line that they follow. But many major authors produce a book every 1 to 5 to 10 years. Game of Thrones being the big example.
codeflow2202 4y ago
That's the name I think of every time someone talks about constant writing. He admits that he is emotionally very stable and doesn't suffer of ups and downs as most of the other writers.

TMWNN 4y ago

>> I wake up daily excited to write. When work is a dread, or when something unhappy pops up, some writing will always bring in positive energy into me. I don’t dread writing. In fact, I can’t stop myself from writing! >I fear we are built different. Isaac Asimov was like Greg Lim: >[T]he only thing about myself that I consider to be severe enough to warrant psychoanalytic treatment is my compulsion to write ... That means that my idea of a pleasant time is to go up to my attic, sit at my electric typewriter (as I am doing right now), and bang away, watching the words take shape like magic before my eyes.

golergka 4y ago

I'm the same as author in regards to writing music. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with promotion and other stuff, so after 15 years of writing music I released almost nothing and gave close to no listeners. You can't get successful only doing what you love. You'll still have to do a lot of things you hate.

corobo 4y ago
Well you gotta release the stuff for people to listen to it You can’t get successful keeping it to yourself for sure

coolsunglasses 4y ago

My experience writing a 1,200 page technical book was similar to xrd's. It was worth it in the end but I'm not doing it again either. Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't break the chain" is good. I did take days off though (on average, 1 a week). I found this book very helpful even though the genre of book was radically different: https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp...

baby 4y ago
Wrote the latest applied crypto book over two years and a half. I love writing, and I write all the time, but that was extremely tough on me. I would not do it again. Real-World Cryptography https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617296716/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1PQDTPBFKT308PJQZ20X https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617296716/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1P...