

How to say nothing in 500 words - jonp
http://www.apostate.com/how-say-nothing-500-words

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Eliezer
Rule 1: Find subject matter that actually _is_ interesting.

Rule 2: Find subject matter that the reader _doesn't_ already know about.

There. Your job just got 300% easier.

~~~
decode
On the one hand, the linked essay is addressing a restrictive situation:
sometimes you are asked to write on a particular subject for a particular
audience, and you don't have a choice. This can happen in the classroom, on
the job, or at a family reunion. It's a useful skill to be able to write well
in that situation.

On the other hand, the linked essay gives the same advice you do. If you're
given a topic you find boring, find something about it that's interesting. If
you're writing for an informed reader, write something even the informed
reader hasn't seen before.

~~~
mmt
_It's a useful skill to be able to write well in that situation._

I guess I'm of a class of people who disagree with this assertion. My counter-
assertion is that all contrived writing is a waste of time, both for the
writer and a reader.

Early in school, I had a tendency to procrastinate such assignments. What I
found _useful_ from these experiences was recognizing the fundamental
distastefulness early and giving myself permission simply not to do it. One
always has a choice.

~~~
decode
"I guess I'm of a class of people who disagree with this assertion. My
counter-assertion is that all contrived writing is a waste of time, both for
the writer and a reader."

I disagree with you in two ways.

First, what I described is not "contrived writing". Just because it's
uninteresting doesn't mean it's not useful. Neither the report your boss
wants, nor the descriptions of activities for the family reunion, are
contrived. They're useful documents that are boring to write and unexciting to
read. Your pleasure is not the final word on the value of an activity.

Second, contrived writing can be a great use of time. Contrived exercises are
useful for improving your skills in many different fields. From soccer, to
engineering, to martial arts, to penmanship, to mathematics, to knitting,
contrived exercises perform a very useful function: they're controlled,
limited exercises to practice a particular skill. They give you safety
(because they're not dangerous to your health or reputation) and allow you to
focus on a small part of the full skill set.

And finally, one always has a choice, but there are consequences for one's
choices. If you refuse to write that boring report for your boss, you might
lose your job. If you refuse to write the paper for class, you might fail the
class, and not get to take the classes you are more interested in. If you
don't do the soccer drills, you won't have the ball-handling skills during the
game. Sometimes the trade-off between the temporary pain of boring work and
the reward it brings is worth the pain.

~~~
mmt
_Neither the report your boss wants, nor the descriptions of activities for
the family reunion, are contrived._

Again, we disagree. The content itself may not contrived[1], but the writing
assignment, the _form_ , is contrived.

 _Your pleasure is not the final word on the value of an activity._

No disagreement here. However, pleasure[2] is the _first_ word, and, for my
philosophy, the most significant in decision making.

 _Contrived exercises are useful for improving your skills in many different
fields._

No disagreement here, either. However, we do, perhaps, disagree in the
relative usefulness of exercises versus learn-by-doing. Moreover, if the field
in question is not of ultimate interest, either method of learning has its
usefulness devalued.

 _They give you safety_

This appears to imply a false dichotomy. Safety isn't an absolute. My
philosophy, especially wrt reputation, has become much less risk-averse with
experience. This is what has drawn me to the startups more and more.

 _If you refuse to write that boring report for your boss, you might lose your
job. If you refuse to write the paper for class, you might fail the class, and
not get to take the classes you are more interested in_

...and good riddance. Despite the appearance of flippancy, it is exactly the
_early_ acceptance of such consequences that I have found to be the valuable
skill.

Perhaps there is a converse to the "do what you love" meme: don't do what you
hate.

 _Sometimes the trade-off between the temporary pain of boring work and the
reward it brings is worth the pain._

We likely only disagree on how often "sometimes" is. For my own experience, it
has been close enough to "never" that I prefer to err on that side.

Substitute "difficult" for "boring," and my conclusion reverses.

[1] In the case of the boss, it can easily become so.

[2] Perhaps "satisfaction" or "mental stimulation" would be a better
description, since I don't believe we're talking about hedonism.

------
gkoberger
I found it odd that there was no conclusion or summary- it just ended. It was
a great read with a lot of great advice, however I felt it ended in an
anticlimactic way.

~~~
astine
I thought the end was clever.

------
epe
The second half reminds me of one of my all-time favorite pieces of writing
advice, Orwell's _Politics and the English Language_ :

<http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm>

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youngian
The tragic part is that our schooling system often punishes the creative, rich
writing the author advocates. The good teachers may recognize it and reward
it, but the bad teachers will just take points off because you are "missing an
introductory paragraph."

This is why standardized writing tests hold a special place in my bitter heart
- they codify the fear of deviation and require you to spew mediocre crap - as
long as it's mediocre crap spelled correctly with a topic sentence in each
paragraph.

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messel
I needed this article as a daily blogger. Thanks for the save. I'm a terribly
abstract, generalist. I'm surprised more readers haven't gouged their eyes out
after reading my work.

~~~
youngian
Hi, my name is Ian, and I don't always omit needless words. I'm so sorry.

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mrshoe
Don't miss George Orwell's take on this subject:

<http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm>

~~~
est
There's a term in Chinese to describe this, it's called 八股文

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-legged_essay>

The funny part is, it's invented about the same time as English language :)

------
Semiapies
As someone once said, "Omit needless words!"

~~~
tpyo
"Omit needless words!"

~~~
bigbang


