

Writing is hard, so do it - robin_reala
http://kyan.com/blog/2013/1/29/writing-is-hard-so-do-it

======
raganwald
"Writers don't write because they can write. They write because they can't not
write."

Writing is an incredibly important communication skill, and it is a forcing
function for understanding a topic. But still, writing a book is rarely the
best use of your time nor the best way to learn to communicate or analyze.

Blog posts might be a better form of writing than a book. Preparing and
delivering a talk might be a better way to improve your communication (and
"brand," for that matter).

However, if after thinking it through you still have an itch to write a book,
it could be that you simply can't not write a book. In which case, go for it
and do it well, and don't worry about justifying it.

It could be that the reason you should write is that you can't not write.

~~~
whichdan
"Writers don't write because they can write. They write because they can't not
write."

This certainly describes my relationship with programming.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
For me, writing and programming feel very much of a piece. They seem to fire
up the same parts of my brain, the feel like the same kind of mental exercise,
and a completed project in writing or programming gives me the same kind of
satisfaction.

~~~
nollidge
Absolutely. Programming is writing, except in addition to targeting an
audience of humans, you're also writing for computers.

------
jgrahamc
Some time ago I tried to distill what I had learnt about writing into a blog
post: [http://blog.jgc.org/2012/07/some-things-ive-learnt-about-
wri...](http://blog.jgc.org/2012/07/some-things-ive-learnt-about-writing.html)

~~~
wglb
And this post is so much better than the submitted article.

Just one small example: _I think writing is a vital skill for almost everyone
because good writing is simply good communicating and good communicating
matters enormously in any job._

~~~
edtechdev
That is a much better article.

I try to think of writing as more like design or engineering, not (just) an
art or skill.

No one would say: "coding a compiler is hard, so do it" or "curing alzheimhers
is hard, so do it" or "teaching is hard, so do it"

Like in design/engineering, when writing or teaching or other similar
activities there will be a lot of trial and error, you need to keep the
audience/user/learner in mind, and it is critical to get as much feedback as
you can. Not because you suck at it, but because it's essential to effective
design of an argument or design of a lesson.

------
jblock
More so than working out, video games, eating, taking a walk, or any of the
typical "zoning-out" activities I've tried over the years, the one that never
fails to relax me is stream-of-consciousness writing.

I've found that on nights where I have trouble sleeping, taking 20 minutes and
writing out every single thought in my skull (into a notebook; not onto a
computer) pulls me out of the mental block and brain thunderstorm that is
resisting calls to slumber. When it's out on paper, it becomes real. It
doesn't sit and dwell as an empty, half-complete thought.

~~~
kranner
I've had a similar experience recently with trying to make sense of my life
using _spreadsheets_.

For instance, while I was trying to sort out my enormous TODO list, I decided
to prioritize projects by assigning them scores based on a few different
features. This was straight in the OS X Stickies app, but after I had more
than three features/attributes, I realized it would be better done on a
spreadsheet. That has been enormously useful and has really taken the stress
off. I wrote about it in this post: <http://noisytyping.com/quantify-your-
personal-values/>

It turned out that this was an established method in Operations Research, btw.

Edit: I'll note the attributes I use in my real spreadsheet (as opposed to the
example in the blog post): \- Time to completion \- Time to first results \-
Expected earnings \- Possible windfall \- Intrinsic fun \- Outreach \- Special
commitments \- Learning new skills "opportunity benefit" \- Execution risk
(misc factors) \- Familiarity \- Novelty (not mutually exclusive with
Familiarity) \- Competition \- Autonomy \- Reputation building

As noted in the post, some factors can have a weight of zero. I still give
them a co-efficient per project because the factor weight could change in the
future.

------
Robin_Message
The ability to write, especially a long but coherent technical document, is
dependent the ability to analyse and structure a vast number of ideas and
concepts according to importance and how they fit together.

This is strategic planning, and it's an extremely important skill to develop.
As well as other benefits in communication, writing is a good way to practice
with a static target.

Also, as the article says, often you need to write a lot down just to get it
out there before you can have a good feel for how it connects together. The
same is true for developing new strategy - if you don't have to write pages
and wish for bigger sheets of paper†, you're doing it wrong.

† Metaphor alert; you don't actually have to.

------
jpp
Neil (kyan.com) says that he doesn't find the _act_ of writing to be hard. I
found it to be torturous when working on Cooking for Geeks until I learned
this simple rule: dedicated time, dedicate space. By dedicated time, I mean a
regular schedule where other activities weren't "allowed" to intrude. And as
for dedicated space, for me it came down to having a desk at which I wrote and
only wrote.

John Cleese puts it so much better (and funnier):
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VShmtsLhkQg>

I suppose I should get down to it and write that blog post... ;-)

~~~
prawks
I think that's applicable to any kind of work, really.

I can't find any examples (my Google-fu is failing me), but I think a
generally accepted practice that leads to productivity is having a space that
you only work in. When you're in that space, all your brain is used to is
doing work, and so it becomes much more difficult to be distracted. It's sort
of the spatial equivalent of a routine you do every day.

This is often why people have an office or study at their home.

As for a schedule, that's a no-brainer (not discrediting you at all).
Obviously if I say "I will work on this project from 7-10 every night, 5 days
a week", then I get 15 hours of work in every week. This also factors into the
whole space-routine thing, but I think far less-so, because the trickier part,
I think, is figuring out that time in your schedule when you are _least
likely_ to be distracted.

~~~
sea6ear
Stephen King mentions the technique of dedicated places in his book _On
Writing_ (which is great by the way).

He suggests the idea place is a room with a door that you can close.

------
grinnick
I've been toying with the idea of writing a book recently. Probably not a big
200 page job but even 50 pages on some niche subject. I always remember Jeff
Atwood once said: "If I had to make a list of the top 10 things I've done in
my life that I regret, "writing a book" would definitely be on it."
([http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/07/coding-horror-
the-b...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/07/coding-horror-the-
book.html)) - he means specifically a proper printed book by the way.

I'm really intrigued by the success of people like Nathan Barry who wrote The
App Design Handbook (<http://nathanbarry.com/app-design-handbook/>) and
Designing Web Applications (<http://nathanbarry.com/webapps/>).

I'd imagine the best way to approach it would be to just try to write a bunch
of semi-disjointed blog post type articles on a particular subject, say
Customer Development, then edit them together with an introduction, conclusion
and some filler content to manage the transitions between articles. That way
even if you never actually finish the book you can still release the articles
on a blog or email list if you feel like it.

That said, your situation is definitely different since you were approached
about writing a book on a particular subject. Most hackers who sit down to
write a book probably won't have that going for them.

------
taeric
I find that in writing, I have the same problem as I do in most other
undertakings. I have come to call it "paralysed by technique." I have no idea
if this is a legitimate thing or not, so if there is a more apt name, I'm all
ears. Basically, I get bogged down on the minutiae of how to do something, and
quickly lose sight of what I'm trying to do.

Easy examples would be how the section where the author compared text editors
has already given me some stuff where I am looking to see if the editor
mentioned would be of benefit to me. Or, where to put notes that I want to
trigger a thought later? There are more ways to do this than I can really
consider, but I'll try. How many strokes should be used in writing a capital
B? Is my version with 5 truly more readable than one with just 3? Should I
care if I have a passive sentence anywhere? ...

With writing, the specific difficulty I have is in coming up with a narrative.
I have the same problem in writing code. The computer wants things one way, of
course. It is somewhat easy to talk to a computer. Making it so that the code
is approachable by myself later, however, is tough. I've been lured into
literate programming time and time again, but with no accepted toolchain in
any of the languages I use, that really is not an option at work.

Anyway, ramble off.

~~~
Swizec
> I have come to call it "paralysed by technique." I have no idea if this is a
> legitimate thing or not, so if there is a more apt name, I'm all ears.

You are thinking of "yak shaving". Or possibly analysis paralysis, but the
rest of your comment screams of yak shaving.

~~~
taeric
I love that that originated with a Ren & Stimpy skit. Regardless, yes, that
sounds like what I mean. Is there not a more technical term for it? (I haven't
tried searching journals for "yak shaving," but I'm doubting that will be a
highly used term.)

Edit: I see originated isn't right. Still, amusingly tied to Ren & Stimpy.

------
raganwald
By the way, if you don't like the colour of your asciidoc,
<http://leanpub.com> (with whom I have a material association) is a markdown-
specific self-publishing platform.

------
taeric
For some reason, on the 5th or so time I saw this headline, it struck me as
somewhat flawed. Something is not necessarily worth doing just because it is
hard.

Seems with writing, the real appeal is that it can be highly rewarding, and
with pretty much no downside. Not unlike most every other creative endeaver.
Programming included. (Now, I realize I'm predicating this on the fact that
you do not necessarily have to release what you did for others to see.)

~~~
jgrahamc
The headline "Writing is hard, so do it" is a good example of one way in which
writing is hard. I believe the writer is trying to say "Writing is hard, but
becomes easier with practice" but writes something closer to "Since writing is
hard you should write".

~~~
taeric
Still, just because something gets easier with practice is not an intrinsic
reason for people to do it. I could claim the same for juggling. Something I
find a lot of fun in doing, and which has gotten doable with practice. Which
is why I said this is true for most any artistic endeaver. (I suppose juggling
is not necessarily artistic, but I don't know what to categorize it as.)

------
Claudus
Two bits of advice I've found helpful.

1) Don't write the whole book before you write it, just focus on small steps,
pick up a pen, find some paper, etc.

2) Practice, push yourself, like lifting weights, or anything else, you'll get
better at it.

------
arocks
Writing is a challenge indeed. Especially for me since the last one year. It
used to be that if I had a collection of thoughts, I would try to flesh them
out into a blog post of atleast 300 words with relevant links.

Today, I try to _compress_ my thoughts into 140 characters or atmost a status
update on Facebook/Google+. This makes me (and most of my regular blogger
friends) guilty of neglecting my blog for the longest period of time.

Long form of writing is extremely satisfying. It organised one's thoughts and
more importantly useful for a future reading. I am impelled to continue
practicing it atleast for the sake of posterity.

------
mikehotel
Original unsanitised version here: <http://neilmiddleton.com/writing-is-hard-
do-it/>

------
VSerge
For anyone writing non-fiction, read "On Writing Well", by William Zinsser. It
will change the way you approach writing for the (much) better. Books,
articles, blog posts, as long as it's non-fiction, it applies.

Needless to say, this book is a great read itself..

------
jmount
An article I would like to promote on writing:
<http://ninazumel.com/2012/10/11/i-write-therefore-i-think/>

------
mvanga
Does anyone here have any resources on writing technical content that would be
useful for someone writing a _technical_ book?

------
Swizec
I'm writing two books right now. It was a stupid _stupid_ idea.

But I think when it's all over with, I will look back on this time ... and
still think it was a terrible idea.

Seriously, don't write more than one book at a time. One is enough.

