Thoughts on Writing

This is a living, open document (as in, I continuously add to it and rewrite it, and it’s mostly for myself) about my thoughts and notes on writing. It’s always a draft, so it’ll have missing sections, bullet points, etc. I’ll do a better job keeping it updated!

Thoughts on setting writing goals

For some people writing brings them power and political good fortune. For others, writing brings them clarity of thought. And apparently, writing can even make people more friends. I don’t want those things. I recognize two kinds of writing: writing for others, and writing for yourself.

For example, you can write to clarify your thoughts, but this looks differently if you’re writing for yourself vs. for others. If you write for yourself, you don’t have to spend time on nailing the hook, cleaning the narrative, making your paragraphs flow, find the right framing, find the right way to signal boost, “generate content,” write in beautiful prose with beautiful language, etc. It’s not to say I won’t sometimes try to write like that, because it can be fun. I don’t like to write like that in the same way I don’t like clubbing — there’s just other stuff I’d like to do more.

Here’s a short list of why I’m writing

• I sometimes like to read narrative or opinion articles (e.g. Ezra Klein-style), but I don’t like to write in that style

• I like to write more neutral, factual documentation (textbook, technical, docs) and web and ad copy, than narratives

• I like to write for myself — to clarify my thoughts, to crystallize ideas, and to help my future self remember

• I like to write for my future self ideas that inspire and spark joy, and that I might forget in a couple of years time. This kind of writing is like tending a garden

• Writing for myself also means not having to set a purpose or expectations for readers. You’re not writing for an audience, at this point. It wouldn’t matter what a Hacker Newshole would think

Here’s a short list of stylistic reminders

• All writing is works in progress. This helps me write faster, ship faster, write from top of mind. The writing is poorer, but hopefully the ideas are better. In fact, everything you see on this site just reflect the data in my Notion notes

• Prefer short, concise posts and concise writing

• Write for your future self, not for others

• You’ll be wrong, and that’s ok

• If you’re wrong- admit you’re wrong, write about how you got there, what right looks like, and the process for getting wrong to right

Thoughts on writing with AI

AI is good at coming up with words and helping writers think and expand on ideas. It’s terrible at actually putting words on paper.

Use AI to

• Summarize long documents and news events

• Explain ideas like I’m five

• Fix your prose, find wonky sentences

• Find holes in your arguments

• Re-flow / refactor your narratives

Thoughts on taking writing courses

I’ve only taken two writing courses, one in college on technical writing, and the every.to writing course. While the class taught some writing techniques, mostly I learned about style, and what’s generally considered “good writing.” The class attempts you to get in the head of these writers and to feel what these writers feel. If writing is supposed to be an extension of thinking, then if we’re supposed to write like them, maybe we’re also supposed think like them?

I’d like to think the writing course made me a better writer. I now know what “good writing” looks like. Being able to taste fine wine is the first step. Being able to recreate it is the second.

But I think those are two different things. I enjoy wine, but I’d rather make beer. I don’t think I ever want to write pieces like Ezra’s or Maggie’s. I don’t think I even want to write in their style — there’s something about articles that lead with a personal anecdote that feels so over-done. I like their style! but I haven’t yet found a style I’d love to imitate.

I haven’t found my Ezra yet.

Thoughts on Copy Work

Copy Work is when you copy someone else’s writing to improve your own writing. You’re given a few paragraphs, copy them with pen and paper, and reflect on the passage — on the word choice, transitions, hooks, flow, whether you enjoy how the passage feels, or what you didn’t like about it. You’re supposed to copy good writing, but when I took the Every writing class, not everyone could agree that all the passages we were assigned were objectively good. But I think part of the plan was to make us “feel something” about each passage we copied.

What I’ll say though is that this method absolutely works. Just do this for ten minutes for 30 days. I’m not kidding. Our brains are weird.

A list of Every’s Daily Writing Exercises: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KPzp-IxmC0wX5R4DZFZGRc2guNdlPLS1RLPmI1vnqu8/edit?tab=t.0

Writers who inspire

I like reading pieces from the following people. I love their writing, but I don’t see myself writing like them:

• Everyone’s supposed to love Ezra Klein. He has that “NPR voice” of journalistic writing, and is someone the Every teaching squad thinks of highly. Don’t get me wrong, he’s really good, and his music hits like a warm bowl of barbacoa from Chipotle. But too bad that once you’ve seen Ezra, you see little Ezra clones everywhere and that’s kind of annoying.

• Maggie Appleton is a prolific designer and an even better writer. Her writing strikes a great balance of casual, academic, and technical, and she’s somehow able to consistently give her writing a “warm hug” throughout her pieces. I love every piece she’s ever put out. Also her site is really pretty.

• I like this piece by Ben Kuhn as a reminder to myself that writing is rewarding, and not just in the intrinsic feel-good-kind-of-way. It’s literally rewarding, as in it lands you speaker and consulting gigs, plus it even makes you more friends. And your writing doesn’t even have to be all that good…!

• This piece by Hunter made me scrap all my drafts for my Every piece and start from scratch. The writing is impolite, visceral. It screams “I’m a punk!” but in a really cleaned up, less-than-raw, professional way. Hunter somehow hits me like the idea of punk rockers in the 70’s who then have wives and babies and have cozy little backyards in a suburb somewhere.

This is a list of more mundane writing that I do see myself writing more like:

• Simon Willison has a casual, beat reporter style blog where he writes about new AI tools and model drops. He cares about sharing ideas, and sometimes being the first to report on a new model. His writing (along with the site’s design) is what I’d consider… Home Depot chic. It’s well organized, well-documented, and gets the work done by helping you get your own work done.

• Astro Docs. Am I even allowed to choose software documentation as inspirational writing? The Astro docs gets to the point very quickly. Every page is filled with good copy writing. Every word feels intentional and every sentence feels high performant. They use short punchy sentences. They use good headlines. They use good hooks and good transitions. Their ideology is mirrored in the writing style. The writing style is consistent throughout hundreds of pages of docs. It’s honestly very fresh. They also have a very good Docs writing guide: https://contribute.docs.astro.build/guides/writing-style. Even their Docs Docs have some good pointers:
• Anyone can contribute, meaningfully, just by typing LGTM (Looks good to me). No need to write content or do more time-consuming tasks such as reviewing an entire page or testing code examples. Proofread or evaluate an existing contribution to help us get through them all!
• Exclamation points can send “positive vibes” to the reader. But, if a reader is frustrated, confused, or in a serious state of mind, then exclamation points can seem insensitive or childish. Do not use too many.