5 ms·

Writing is the cure

25 points by mantas 17y ago

russell 17y ago
It sure is. I find that writing about a dilemma solidifies the pros and cons. It's much better to spend a couple of hours at the keyboard, even a day, than to go charging off in the wrong direction. The real problem with going in the wrong direction is the difficulty of backing away from sunk costs. Don't take that to mean that I'm not in favor of a little coding research to get my mind around a problem; it is usually a win. I have also found that verbal requests, especially from a boss or client, need to be fleshed out in writing. Avoids spending a week on a feature, only to have the client pissed off, because I couldn't read his mind. Even HN helps. I'm finding that frequent commenting here is improving my ability to capture ideas concisely. (Or so the illusion goes :-)
cninja 17y ago
"Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them." http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html
chrisduesing 17y ago
This is a pretty interesting approach. I have generally used my very infrequently updated blog for recapping something I did that was particularly difficult, or when I completed learning something new. I recently did a post on trying to decide which functional language to teach myself and it had ~1000 uniques (100 times more than my usual posts). More importantly the conversation it generated helped me choose a language. So blogging before you make a decision can lead to more blogging and better decisions!
piramida 17y ago
That is obvious, anyone who had a hard problem knows that just talking through it (or writing it down) helps straighten your own thoughts.
twopoint718 17y ago
Maybe it also has something to do with the Rubber Duck method: http://lists.ethernal.org/oldarchives/cantlug-0211/msg00174.html http://lists.ethernal.org/oldarchives/cantlug-0211/msg00174....
billswift 17y ago
What you say or write down also tends to be more strongly remembered than what you just think. (This is the basis for writing down your ideas whenever you get them (speaking them aloud is helpful if you can't stop to write).)
pasbesoin 17y ago
Have you ever asked a question and had the answer solution occur to you while you are describing the question? I believe that may be similar. I've heard it said that an explanation for this scenario (speaking to another as a catalyst) may be due to the fact that speaking engages different brain functionality. Both the motor skills of speaking, and the effort to compose the idea and question into a well-composed, meaningful expression. Separately, with regard to writing, does anyone else notice a difference between writing longhand and typing? For me, whether it's a kinesthetic difference, or that long hand slows me down a bit more so that my thoughts have longer to percolate before being recorded, I find myself more concise and frequently more eloquent when writing long hand. For important things, I'll still sometimes write them out long hand even if their eventual destination is a computer.
- Radix 17y ago
  I think there might be something to that. I've noticed I enjoy writing better on a pad than at a word processor. Part of it is because I find the ability to format distracting, but I think there is more to it. Reviewing and editing feels more natural when I can circle and strike out, or pen in possible differing directions. I wonder how natural it feels is related to how early people begin typing. Though I am quite kinesthetic so that may be more likely.
- astine 17y ago
  Happened to me earlier today :)
- astine 17y ago
  Happened to me earlier today :)
TrevorJ 17y ago
There's another thing that may be going on here as well. I usually go to a forum to ask advice on a hard problem. In the act of laying out all the steps I've taken and describing the problem, I generally begin to imagine the replies I may get. You know how it is, people usually ask if you've tried this or that. Any number of 'obvious' solutions are suggested. In an effort to head off those comments I usually end up thinking of an 'obvious' solution I hadn't tried yet, and that generally solves the problem. Failing that, explaining why it can't be this or that issue in the post leads me to think of other possibilities that it COULD be. Nine times out of ten I don't finish the post.
- jamesbritt 17y ago
  The path to enlightenment is hitting the "Send" button. No sooner do I send off some request for help does a solution come to mind.
CraigBuchek 17y ago
This is why pair programming works so well. In writing things down, asking a question, or explaining things, you have to think about them in a more organized manner.

25 points by mantas 17y ago

It sure is. I find that writing about a dilemma solidifies the pros and cons. It's much better to spend a couple of hours at the keyboard, even a day, than to go charging off in the wrong direction. The real problem with going in the wrong direction is the difficulty of backing away from sunk costs. Don't take that to mean that I'm not in favor of a little coding research to get my mind around a problem; it is usually a win. I have also found that verbal requests, especially from a boss or client, need to be fleshed out in writing. Avoids spending a week on a feature, only to have the client pissed off, because I couldn't read his mind. Even HN helps. I'm finding that frequent commenting here is improving my ability to capture ideas concisely. (Or so the illusion goes :-)

cninja 17y ago

"Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them." http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html

chrisduesing 17y ago

This is a pretty interesting approach. I have generally used my very infrequently updated blog for recapping something I did that was particularly difficult, or when I completed learning something new. I recently did a post on trying to decide which functional language to teach myself and it had ~1000 uniques (100 times more than my usual posts). More importantly the conversation it generated helped me choose a language. So blogging before you make a decision can lead to more blogging and better decisions!

piramida 17y ago

That is obvious, anyone who had a hard problem knows that just talking through it (or writing it down) helps straighten your own thoughts.

twopoint718 17y ago

Maybe it also has something to do with the Rubber Duck method: http://lists.ethernal.org/oldarchives/cantlug-0211/msg00174.html http://lists.ethernal.org/oldarchives/cantlug-0211/msg00174....

billswift 17y ago

What you say or write down also tends to be more strongly remembered than what you just think. (This is the basis for writing down your ideas whenever you get them (speaking them aloud is helpful if you can't stop to write).)

pasbesoin 17y ago

Have you ever asked a question and had the answer solution occur to you while you are describing the question? I believe that may be similar. I've heard it said that an explanation for this scenario (speaking to another as a catalyst) may be due to the fact that speaking engages different brain functionality. Both the motor skills of speaking, and the effort to compose the idea and question into a well-composed, meaningful expression. Separately, with regard to writing, does anyone else notice a difference between writing longhand and typing? For me, whether it's a kinesthetic difference, or that long hand slows me down a bit more so that my thoughts have longer to percolate before being recorded, I find myself more concise and frequently more eloquent when writing long hand. For important things, I'll still sometimes write them out long hand even if their eventual destination is a computer.

Radix 17y ago
I think there might be something to that. I've noticed I enjoy writing better on a pad than at a word processor. Part of it is because I find the ability to format distracting, but I think there is more to it. Reviewing and editing feels more natural when I can circle and strike out, or pen in possible differing directions. I wonder how natural it feels is related to how early people begin typing. Though I am quite kinesthetic so that may be more likely.
astine 17y ago
Happened to me earlier today :)
astine 17y ago
Happened to me earlier today :)

TrevorJ 17y ago

There's another thing that may be going on here as well. I usually go to a forum to ask advice on a hard problem. In the act of laying out all the steps I've taken and describing the problem, I generally begin to imagine the replies I may get. You know how it is, people usually ask if you've tried this or that. Any number of 'obvious' solutions are suggested. In an effort to head off those comments I usually end up thinking of an 'obvious' solution I hadn't tried yet, and that generally solves the problem. Failing that, explaining why it can't be this or that issue in the post leads me to think of other possibilities that it COULD be. Nine times out of ten I don't finish the post.

jamesbritt 17y ago
The path to enlightenment is hitting the "Send" button. No sooner do I send off some request for help does a solution come to mind.

CraigBuchek 17y ago

This is why pair programming works so well. In writing things down, asking a question, or explaining things, you have to think about them in a more organized manner.