16 ms·
"I’ve also taken to toning down any rhetorical flourishes that could be interpreted uncharitably in a way that annoys some people. The result: boring writing st
by idlewords 12y ago
"I’ve also taken to toning down any rhetorical flourishes that could be interpreted uncharitably in a way that annoys some people. The result: boring writing stripped of a lot of my own personal style"
I read this as "I've become a better writer". 99.99% of the time, what you consider your unique, personal style is just bad writing.
- sssbc 12y agoAnd I read this as "better writing" is just boring writing. <sarcasm>Please, lets all discourse in a monotone, with strict rules and public shaming for non-adherence.</sarcasm> (trying to get my karma below -25)
- bkirwi 12y ago-- All good writers are alike; all bad writers are bad in their own way. I'm not too sure about this... there are many ways to be a terrible writer, but most good writers still seem to have a distinctive style. (Is it just that 99.99% of writing is bad writing? Oh, probably.)
- jeorgun 12y agoI think this relates very directly to one of PG's essays¹: At an art school where I once studied, the students wanted most of all to develop a personal style. But if you just try to make good things, you'll inevitably do it in a distinctive way, just as each person walks in a distinctive way. Michelangelo was not trying to paint like Michelangelo. He was just trying to paint well; he couldn't help painting like Michelangelo. It's much easier to be distinctive than to be good, so if you're trying to optimize for the former you'll have a much harder time achieving the latter. ¹ http://paulgraham.com/taste.html http://paulgraham.com/taste.html