4 ms·

This is so hot. I'm really blown away. It's also really interesting to watch a good writer go about editing. This is certainly a way to teach writing, besides

This is so hot. I'm really blown away. It's also really interesting to watch a good writer go about editing. This is certainly a way to teach writing, besides the obvious method of practice.

petercooper 18y ago
Maybe, but only if you had a larger sample than one person. You'll find that there are at least several common ways to write - most quite unlike each other. That would probably be the biggest lesson.. that there is little you can learn from watching this process except "just do it your way". I found it quite surprising to watch. I thought it was a genetic algorithm writing an article somehow at first with all the constant deleting and rewriting. Once I realized what was really going on I was struck by what an odd writing style it was (to my experience). I'm firmly in the "get it all out then come back and tighten it up" clan. There are, I suspect, at least several groups though.. I'm intrigued what they all are (perhaps the "just write and don't ever edit" group, the "refine as you go" group, the "headings then fill the gaps" group...)
- gstar 18y ago
  I thought it was a genetic algorithm writing an article somehow You have great intuition, because it actually was!
there 18y ago
i'd love to see how a piece of legislation gets written with something like this.
- laut 18y ago
  The lobbyists will have to start to use etherpad then.
- robotrout 18y ago
  I was thinking git would be a great tool for legislation writing as well...
- pg 18y ago
  That's actually a really good idea, even if all it showed you were successive drafts.
- tlb 18y ago
  "To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making." -- Otto von Bismarck.
  - cpach 18y ago
    That's a great quote. Seems like the original version is by John Godfrey Saxe though, and reads "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made." Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/magazine/27wwwl-guestsafire-t.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/magazine/27wwwl-guestsafir...
- Xichekolas 18y ago
  Even without the playback, if legislative documents were versioned and the revisions were public, we could at least watch the diffs and call people on the pork and poison pills they insert into bills.

This is so hot. I'm really blown away. It's also really interesting to watch a good writer go about editing. This is certainly a way to teach writing, besides the obvious method of practice.

petercooper 18y ago

Maybe, but only if you had a larger sample than one person. You'll find that there are at least several common ways to write - most quite unlike each other. That would probably be the biggest lesson.. that there is little you can learn from watching this process except "just do it your way". I found it quite surprising to watch. I thought it was a genetic algorithm writing an article somehow at first with all the constant deleting and rewriting. Once I realized what was really going on I was struck by what an odd writing style it was (to my experience). I'm firmly in the "get it all out then come back and tighten it up" clan. There are, I suspect, at least several groups though.. I'm intrigued what they all are (perhaps the "just write and don't ever edit" group, the "refine as you go" group, the "headings then fill the gaps" group...)

gstar 18y ago
I thought it was a genetic algorithm writing an article somehow You have great intuition, because it actually was!

there 18y ago

i'd love to see how a piece of legislation gets written with something like this.

laut 18y ago
The lobbyists will have to start to use etherpad then.
robotrout 18y ago
I was thinking git would be a great tool for legislation writing as well...
pg 18y ago
That's actually a really good idea, even if all it showed you were successive drafts.
tlb 18y ago
"To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making." -- Otto von Bismarck.
- cpach 18y ago
  That's a great quote. Seems like the original version is by John Godfrey Saxe though, and reads "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made." Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/magazine/27wwwl-guestsafire-t.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/magazine/27wwwl-guestsafir...
Xichekolas 18y ago
Even without the playback, if legislative documents were versioned and the revisions were public, we could at least watch the diffs and call people on the pork and poison pills they insert into bills.