
My Writing Process - amruta2799
https://amrutaranade.com/2018/03/07/my-writing-process/
======
soneca
I agree that consistently good writing is hard. But I also believe that
consistently _not bad_ writing is easy.

Not everything we write is long, complex or important enough to demand a
research phase and external reviews. I would like the author to have spent
more time in the _Draft phase_.

It is the first time I heard about the 5-draft technique. My impression is
that it kind of assumes that you know what to look for when editing your own
texts. I am starting a newsletter with written communication tips for
developers and my main point is to direct people to what they should be paying
attention while writing.

I distilled it to an acronym (just for fun): _Miirror_

Message - before writing it, think about the message you want to communicate.

Information - one part of the message is _what_ you want to communicate -
facts, data, instructions, requests, etc.

Intention - another part of the message is _how_ you want to communicate -
mood, state of mind, tone, etc.

Reader - while writing it, think about the person who will read your text.

Rapport - one dimension of caring about the reader is about creating empathy
with the reader to improve the effectiveness of the communication.

Order - another dimension is about organizing your message (conceptually and
visually) so your reader never feels lost or wasting time.

Rewrite - after writing it, rewrite it.

more detailed version: [https://writingfordevelopers.substack.com/p/miirror-a-
framew...](https://writingfordevelopers.substack.com/p/miirror-a-framework-
for-writing)

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
Are rewrites supposed to destroy the soul of the original idea? That's what
mine do. Do you have any tips for that?

Edit: Why's poignant guide to ruby would be hard to rewrite imho, I'm guessing
it would be hard for him to rewrite too.

~~~
munificent
_> Are rewrites supposed to destroy the soul of the original idea?_

No. They are supposed to distill, crystallize, and intensify it.

 _> That's what mine do. Do you have any tips for that?_

You may be editing by imagining a hostile reader. That tends to force you to
be defensive, remove things that are potentially disagreeable, add lots of
hedges, etc. All of that waters it down.

Some amount of that can be important — accuracy matters and it's good to
address the questions and concerns likely to come to the reader's mind. But I
think it's still important to presume a good faith, charitable reader, and
write for them.

 _> Edit: Why's poignant guide to ruby would be hard to rewrite imho, I'm
guessing it would be hard for him to rewrite too._

It's a common mistake to assume that writing that _reads_ as effortless and
spontaneous was _written_ that way. I don't know about _why, but _many_
writers whose writing is noted for flowing naturally get there by
painstakingly honing and refining those words over innumerable drafts.

It takes a lot of work to make it look easy.

~~~
singhrac
Wow, I never thought about how I was imagining my reader while editing - I
should keep this in mind while editing papers for submission.

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henrik_w
In a lot of ways I think writing a text is similar to writing code. In both
cases, I think there is a lot of value in getting something down that can be
refined. In coding, the refining is done with refactoring. In regular writing,
it's editing and rewriting. I find it much easier to have a poorly formulated
sentence and then editing it into shape than it is for me to write a good
sentence from the start. The same applies to code for me.

I have written about my process for writing blog posts here:

[https://henrikwarne.com/2017/11/26/6-years-of-thoughts-on-
pr...](https://henrikwarne.com/2017/11/26/6-years-of-thoughts-on-programming/)

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Sir_Cmpwn
I've been blogging a lot more in the past several months than before, recently
on the order of an article per week or so. My process is this:

1\. Add bullet-point-length ideas to a to-write list

2\. Decide to write a post and pick the subject (which comes from the to-write
list maybe 25% of the time)

3\. Bust out the rough draft

4\. Read it for grammar/spelling/phrasing review

5\. if (edits > 5) goto 4

6\. Share the draft among friends for feedback

7\. if (edits > 3) goto 6

8\. Publish

Whole process takes 1-3 hours per article.

~~~
alex_hitchins
Out of interest, do you have a circle of people who give you feedback and vice
versa? Like a writing group? I'd be interested in something like this, as I
really want to improve my written skills.

~~~
Sir_Cmpwn
I have an IRC channel that I invite my Patreon supporters to and I like to
post the drafts there, as well as to private social circles. If you'd like
some feedback on your articles feel free to send me drafts, email's in my
profile.

~~~
alex_hitchins
Very generous, thank you. I might just take you up on that offer.

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cpsempek
> Yes, anyone can write, but not everyone can write well.

Either she thinks people who write do not have the potential to write well,
or, she meant to say "...but not everyone writes well." The former is a little
presumptuous, the latter is, well, poor writing.

I actually do not even see the point in projecting her experiences with
writing onto others. She could have gotten the same point across without the
awkward introduction. It could have been framed a little more personably,
e.g., "I notice that my bad writing all stems from an unstructured process.
Here is the process which has helped me to write well more consistently..."

