Writing Advice

[swyxio]

---

title: writing Advice
slug: writing-advice
category: note
tags: ['Advice', Writing]
date: 2020-01-18
published: false
description: Some thoughts on writing your first few writings

Note: this was an unfinished draft, but i hit publish anyway. may revisit in future.

ann handley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYLVFK12ERY

• up goer five text editor
• whats in it for them
• skip the running start
• "screw and do" - one main point, one call to action, must be clear

https://twitter.com/nbashaw/status/1237131727635501056?s=20
When I sent people drafts of my posts for feedback, I never knew what to say if they asked "what kind of feedback would be helpful?"

Now I use the "ABCD" framework:

• what's Awesome?
• what's Boring?
• what's Confusing?
• what Didn't you believe?

https://danluu.com/corp-eng-blogs/
https://twitter.com/michael_nielsen/status/1237871186752573442 terry tao

PG: writing usefully: http://paulgraham.com/useful.html, http://www.paulgraham.com/talk.html

Stephen King: on writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0SIM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Scott Adams: https://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/the_day_you_bec.html

How to write well?

• Writing well
  • AIDA - attention interest desire action
  • get to the point, add rhythm https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1127348174404890625
  • more tips: https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1116485842615377921
  • talk like you write: http://www.paulgraham.com/talk.html
  • rapid prototyping: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/advice-on-writing-papers/write-a-rapid-prototype-first/
  • writing for work: https://danluu.com/corp-eng-blogs/
  • better writer: https://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/the_day_you_bec.html
• The Benefits of Writing A Lot For My Software Career

Writing

• brandon sanderson - have a group when writing
• https://twitter.com/dickiebush/status/1482350753691881473?s=21
• storytelling https://twitter.com/patriciamou_/status/1449897168316387329?s=21
  @jeremywaite's hand-illustrated 1-pagers on storytelling methods from:
  - Harry Potter
  - Pixar Studios
  - Studio Ghibli
  - Greek Orators
• https://thefrailestthing.com/2014/03/30/10-points-of-unsolicited-advice-for-technology-writers/
• Write funny https://copywritingcourse.com/writing-funny/
• summarize the top books in your field https://www.nateliason.com/notes
  • better input
  • build following with zero authority
• Writing Process
  • Mise en Place :)
  • Rapid Prototyping
• david perell - 2 forms of writing
  • https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1287081150523965441?s=20
• the 4 months of quiet
  • https://twitter.com/dollarsanddata/status/1079721632816685057?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/JamesClear/status/1108397795763990528
• Only 2 Things that matter
  • Entertain
  • Inform
• things that don't matter if you have the above
  • Perfect Grammar
  • Perfect Structure
  • Perfect Timing
• FCC writing guidelines https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/developer-news-style-guide/
• writing better
  • Up Goer Five https://xkcd.com/1133/
  • https://www.factoftheday1.com/facts/amazon-writing-style-tip
    • https://twitter.com/destraynor/status/1258372157706510336?lang=en
  • One Main Point
  • One Call to Action
    • Attention - first sentence https://twitter.com/bradwolverton/status/1246503536332099584
    • Interest
    • Desire
    • Action
  • Skip the running start
  • What's in it for them? Write Usefully
  • Write Like You Talk
  • Write Simply - PG writing process http://byronm.com/13sentences.html
  • https://twitter.com/fortelabs/status/1251598088294158337
  • https://jvns.ca/blog/2020/11/15/simple-explanations-without-sounding-condescending/
• Asking for feedback ABCD
  • what's Awesome?
  • what's Boring?
  • what's Confusing?
  • what Didn't you believe?
• writing for work
  • Memos/Narratives https://slab.com/blog/jeff-bezos-writing-management-strategy/
  • Design Docs https://www.industrialempathy.com/posts/design-docs-at-google/
  • Corp Eng Blogs https://danluu.com/corp-eng-blogs/
• daily writing
  • https://patwalls.com/
  • https://seths.blog/
  • https://avc.com/
  • https://marginalrevolution.com/
  • https://nathanbarry.com/commitment-changed-career/
• further inspo
  • Ann Handley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYLVFK12ERY
  • Scott Adams https://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/the_day_you_bec.html
  • Stephen King https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0SIM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
  • Scott Hanselman https://www.hanselman.com/blog/BlogInteresting32WaysToKeepYourBlogFromSucking.aspx (talk)
  • Ultimate Guide https://www.perell.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-online
  • Writing for Software Devs https://philipkiely.com/wfsd/
  • editing https://blog.regehr.org/archives/1471
  • https://adamfaliq.com/2020/10/28/write-well/
  • punctuation and mood. https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1340150916109004800?s=20
  • http://paulgraham.com/writing44.html
  • https://medium.com/practicecomesfirst/dr-jordan-b-petersons-10-step-guide-to-clearer-thinking-through-essay-writing-1ab79a94937
  • https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/why-everyone-should-write/
  • write clearly https://gilest.org/2021/how-to-be-clear/
  • writing https://twitter.com/Julian/status/1356979505475313665
  • on writing well https://sive.rs/book/OnWritingWell
• the three genres of Julia Evans https://jvns.ca/blog/2020/12/05/how-i-write-useful-programming-comics/
• write in plain English http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/how-to-write-in-plain-english.html
• compendium https://arewordsjustwords.com/2021/02/12/la-creme-de-la-creme-of-writing-online
• https://theamericanscholar.org/writing-english-as-a-second-language/
  • "I have four principles of writing good English. They are Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity, and Humanity."
• Framing https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/tools-and-resources/framing-101/
• write drama writing advice https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan/status/1372061109461512193?s=20
• https://builtbywords.substack.com/p/writing-tools-i-learned-from-the
• writing short form
  • http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/mc/WriteThinkLearn.pdf
  • https://twitter.com/b0rk/status/1433785375638577156?s=20
• write active verbs
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3bQfP_2ALs
    • do not use any form of "to be"
    • be different - "step 1 drink a shot of tequila"
• writing habit/process https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1462455011716202499?s=20
• writing motivation https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/writing-motivation/
• dan luu writing advice https://danluu.com/writing-non-advice/
• headlines https://twitter.com/amandanat/status/1473698351141036040

write something that could be rejected - get in the game