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Your comment was only downvoted because the average HN reader is not artistically inclined.

bemusedthrow75 3y ago
I am not convinced about this. I can't really know what you mean based on this one sentence (or the parent comment from that one sentence), but the really good artists I know absolutely lay down rules for themselves. All art, fundamentally, emerges in part from creative constraints and from practice of communicating within them. And good artists absolutely know this (whether they would express it in this generalised way or not). Good artists can switch from medium to medium by exploring the constraints (beyond just the physical limits of charcoal or clay or stacking stones) and then figuring out how to communicate with them. But you don't really get very far without imposing additional restrictions on the work that help frame the message you're trying to convey. Artists who invent new mediums of expression do this same thing implicitly; the medium at some level is its constraints. So experienced artists usually do make up rules for themselves (or at least positive schemes and negative no-go areas) whether they write them down or not.
strken 3y ago
I didn't downvote it, but I also don't agree that a set of rules that amount to "pace yourself to avoid burnout" is a post-hoc rational justification of mysterious otherworldly guidance from the sky. Since the actual rules from the article are about keeping yourself mentally healthy during the process of writing, the comment is obscure: does it refer to some other set of rules about art? (In which case it's off-topic.) Or is it making the claim that you could work in blocks of multiple hours and never socialise with other writers and see the same results? (In which case, why not clearly state a position so it can be discussed?)
- lsmeducation 3y ago
  “Pace yourself” is a general rule that can be applied to anything in life. claim that you could work in blocks of multiple hours and never socialise with other writers and see the same results? Yep. There were some writers that were straight up bed-ridden. They would laugh at your little ruleset. Lastly, I wasn’t downvoted. A reasonable amount of people seem to agree.
  - broscillator 3y ago
    > Yep. There were some writers that were straight up bed-ridden. They would laugh at your little ruleset. C'mon, we all know exceptions just prove the rules :) I'm sure there's many coders out there who write their code with only one finger in each hand. That does not render "learn to touch type with all 10 fingers" as invalid advice.
    - lsmeducation 3y ago
      I guess it's all perspective. I've always looked at exceptions as a base case.
  - strken 3y ago
    It's not my little ruleset and I agree that a writer doesn't have to hang out with other writers to get work done, or work in blocks of exactly 10 to 50 minutes; I just think you were very vague and never gave a specific objection to the content of the rules, which is quite a spineless thing to do. Prof. Robert Boice may be wrong, but at least his positions are stated clearly enough that we can see they're wrong.
broscillator 3y ago
I write every day and make music. I didn't downvote but there's a clear misunderstanding on this comment's part. The stuff does "come from the sky". The sitting down and getting the stuff done, that does not come from the sky. These rules apply only to that second aspect.
- sfpotter 3y ago
  Follow These Five Easy Steps And You Too Can Be a Great Artist!
  - broscillator 3y ago
    More like, focus on becoming an artist first, whether great or not, that comes later.

I am not convinced about this. I can't really know what you mean based on this one sentence (or the parent comment from that one sentence), but the really good artists I know absolutely lay down rules for themselves. All art, fundamentally, emerges in part from creative constraints and from practice of communicating within them. And good artists absolutely know this (whether they would express it in this generalised way or not). Good artists can switch from medium to medium by exploring the constraints (beyond just the physical limits of charcoal or clay or stacking stones) and then figuring out how to communicate with them. But you don't really get very far without imposing additional restrictions on the work that help frame the message you're trying to convey. Artists who invent new mediums of expression do this same thing implicitly; the medium at some level is its constraints. So experienced artists usually do make up rules for themselves (or at least positive schemes and negative no-go areas) whether they write them down or not.

strken 3y ago

I didn't downvote it, but I also don't agree that a set of rules that amount to "pace yourself to avoid burnout" is a post-hoc rational justification of mysterious otherworldly guidance from the sky. Since the actual rules from the article are about keeping yourself mentally healthy during the process of writing, the comment is obscure: does it refer to some other set of rules about art? (In which case it's off-topic.) Or is it making the claim that you could work in blocks of multiple hours and never socialise with other writers and see the same results? (In which case, why not clearly state a position so it can be discussed?)

lsmeducation 3y ago
“Pace yourself” is a general rule that can be applied to anything in life. claim that you could work in blocks of multiple hours and never socialise with other writers and see the same results? Yep. There were some writers that were straight up bed-ridden. They would laugh at your little ruleset. Lastly, I wasn’t downvoted. A reasonable amount of people seem to agree.
- broscillator 3y ago
  > Yep. There were some writers that were straight up bed-ridden. They would laugh at your little ruleset. C'mon, we all know exceptions just prove the rules :) I'm sure there's many coders out there who write their code with only one finger in each hand. That does not render "learn to touch type with all 10 fingers" as invalid advice.
  - lsmeducation 3y ago
    I guess it's all perspective. I've always looked at exceptions as a base case.
- strken 3y ago
  It's not my little ruleset and I agree that a writer doesn't have to hang out with other writers to get work done, or work in blocks of exactly 10 to 50 minutes; I just think you were very vague and never gave a specific objection to the content of the rules, which is quite a spineless thing to do. Prof. Robert Boice may be wrong, but at least his positions are stated clearly enough that we can see they're wrong.

broscillator 3y ago

I write every day and make music. I didn't downvote but there's a clear misunderstanding on this comment's part. The stuff does "come from the sky". The sitting down and getting the stuff done, that does not come from the sky. These rules apply only to that second aspect.

sfpotter 3y ago
Follow These Five Easy Steps And You Too Can Be a Great Artist!
- broscillator 3y ago
  More like, focus on becoming an artist first, whether great or not, that comes later.