
Ask HN: Can you give me some advice on writing essays? - rayalez
I am trying to learn to write some interesting essays&#x2F;blog post, and I need some advice, because I&#x27;m completely stuck.<p>I have had trouble coming up with things to talk about my whole life. I read a lot, and I feel like I know a lot of things, but when I sit down to write my mind goes completely blank, I have nothing to say, or rather I feel like there&#x27;s nothing worth writing about.<p>I don&#x27;t have anything to say to people who know less than me, because explaining obvious things seems boring, and I don&#x27;t know what to say to people on HN&#x2F;LessWrong, because I feel like they are smarter than me and already know everything I am about to say.<p>For example when I read Eliezer Yudkowsky&#x27;s essays, I think that I already know a lot of the things he is talking about, so before I&#x27;ve read them I had this information in my head, information that could be turned into some interesting writing. I was supposed to be able to write at least something similar, but clearly I didn&#x27;t. I assume I have some interesting information in my mind, it can&#x27;t be completely empty, but when I try to come up with topics for essays I hit this weird roadblock, and end up with nothing.<p>Recently I&#x27;m making some progress at writing fiction, but with essays I&#x27;m completely stuck, I&#x27;ve got <i>nothing</i>. It&#x27;s like I&#x27;m missing some key element necessary to just start writing things.<p>Can you help me out? Do you have any advice that could help me to get started?
======
firebones
The time to think of topics is not when you sit down to write--it's when
you're busy interacting with the world.

There, you're going to have insights. You're going to encounter itches you
need to scratch. You're going to find questions that pop up--why you're
feeling out of sync with something, why you're annoyed by something.

With luck, you're going to create things that no one else has created. And
even if someone else has created it, something led you to create it in the way
you did.

All of these observations of self can be noted when they occur, and they can
form the premise for an essay. Use a sticky, or carry a Field Notes notebook.
Stop and capture them.

Maybe 95% of them will be garbage. File them away--maybe journal them. See if
they come up again. If they do, then you're onto something.

The other 5% may write themselves.

For me, essays are about connecting ideas from disparate domains.

Short version: if you have nothing to say when you sit down at the keyboard,
then get up from the keyboard and interact with the world around you, and
observe. You'll be cured in no time.

~~~
ctchocula
I agree completely with firebones. Getting a pocket-sized Moleskine notebook
last year and jotting down observations that arise when I interact with the
world has been most helpful. One surprising point is that looking back on my
notebook, many ideas I would've forgotten about completely if they hadn't been
written down. I'm not saying these are $1M ideas, but it's nice to have a
record of what you were thinking 6 months ago.

To borrow pg's analogy that we are the executable whose source code we've
lost, by writing down our thoughts (even in point-form) we may at least hope
to generate output logs of versions of ourselves compiled at different times.

------
cousin_it
Speaking as someone who has written many well-received essays on LessWrong, I
feel like you're approaching the problem from the wrong angle. IMO writing a
good essay shouldn't be a goal, it has to be a side effect of doing
interesting intellectual work.

For example, there's someone on LW who wrote a chatbot that successfully
hypnotizes people over IRC. Would you read an essay about that? You bet you
would! There's also someone who sold drugs for bitcoin, and someone who doxxed
drug lords, and someone who won AI-box experiments, and someone who
independently invented cryptocurrency... My own most successful essays on LW
came as as a side effect of my work on decision theory math, which had other
nice effects as well (like being invited to speak at conferences). Even
Eliezer's essays were a side effect of his attempts to figure out friendly AI,
rather than "hmm I want to write something interesting today".

So, instead of mulling over which obvious thing you'd like to write about, try
to do some novel work that interests you on its own terms! When you try to
describe it afterward, I promise you the words will come much easier.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
I'd put a slightly different twist on that. The key is _having something to
say_. Maybe even having something that you _have_ to say. If you don't have
that, don't bother trying to write (unless it's a job requirement, or it's
just for practice).

~~~
cousin_it
Yeah, that's certainly how the rest of the world puts it. Unfortunately it's
not very actionable. "The key is to have something to say!" "Hmm, but what if
I don't have anything to say right now?" And they're stuck again. It's kinda
like "be attractive, don't be unattractive". Whereas my answer is "do
interesting intellectual work, get results, write them up". A little more
actionable, no?

~~~
AnimalMuppet
I'd say that my action is this: If you don't have something to say, don't say
it. If you don't have something to say right now, don't view yourself as being
stuck. You don't _have_ to have something to say right now (or ever, for that
matter). Don't waste your time trying to have something to say. When you do,
you'll know. In the meantime, go do something else, rather than trying to
"find" something to say.

Your advice is on how to find something to say, and it's fine (though it's not
the only way to get there). My advice is how to think/feel about your
situation when you don't have something to say.

I said that your advice isn't the only way to find something to say, because
the something to say doesn't have to be something intellectual. Go do some
interesting intellectual work - that's fine. But also, go fall in love. Go
start playing sports. Go on vacation. Go take up a hobby. In any of those, you
can find something to say, not because you're desperately trying to find
something to say, but because you're out living life instead of racking your
brain looking for something to say.

------
iamben
This sounds less like a problem with writing essays and more with a fear of
being judged - I know, because I have the same problem.

"I don't have anything to say to people who know less than me, because
explaining obvious things seems boring [...] I feel like they are smarter than
me and already know everything I am about to say"

I've suffered from this for years. 'That idea sounds stupid - it's far too
simple', or 'if I write this / make this my peers will judge me'. When the
reality, the people you look up to probably aren't looking at you, and there
are far, far more people who, despite you thinking something is obvious, will
find value in your work.

Reading HN (and similar) we're exposed to some incredible people - those at
the top of their game. Because you or I am not that person doesn't mean that
what we write doesn't have value to someone.

My friend has recently published his third novel. It's quite good. He started
writing when we lived together at university 15 years. I used to read his
short stories back then. It took him 13 years to publish his first book. But
he wrote voraciously in the meantime. Most of us don't start great - it comes
with practice.

Basically what I'm saying, is pick a topic - even one you consider too simple
- and get started. Write 300 words. Then do the same tomorrow. Then the next
day. Your writing will improve, you'll read more, research more, learn more -
and new ideas will come to the point where you'll have more ideas than time.
Like the writing itself, it comes with practice. And those 'obvious' topics
you start with - they'll undoubtedly benefit someone in the long run.

------
robfitz
> It's like I'm missing some key element necessary to just start writing
> things.

You're probably missing the value proposition of your writing in general (what
is your set of essays giving to the people who read it), and the thesis of
each post in particular.

For the VP I use: "My essays all about helping _________ learn/be/do/become
___________."

Once you've got that value prop, you can get specific ideas by thinking about
the type of person you're serving (the first blank) and thinking about the
sort of questions that person asks you over a beer when you're hanging out
with them.

Or you can use trigger questions like:

* Mistakes you've made or seen in this industry * Most common bad advice in this industry

Etc etc. I made a little interactive version of this process at
[http://whattowrite.org](http://whattowrite.org) (it's a free and unsupported
old hobby project, but it works all right).

Good luck. In the early days, essays/blogging are more about refining what you
think, so don't worry too much about whether or not people read it. Write for
you first (but with a reader in mind so you don't wander all over the place).

------
ivan_ah
Some advice, in no particular order:

1\. Writing is a conversation. If you're ever stuck in front of the computer,
try using a voice recorder instead (e.g. while going for a walk, or while
sitting in the sun somewhere) and then transcribe what you said. I find it has
magical effects of simplifying sentences and keeping writing interesting.

2\. Write with a goal and a reader in mind. Do you want to inform/describe
something or convince/sell something? Who are you writing to? When in doubt,
write to inform, try to summarize and distill the essence of the topic.

3\. Do not pervert the English language, e.g. if you say "utilize" instead of
"use", I hate you. More on that front:
[https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm](https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm)

4\. Keep it short: in each sentence you're either getting to a point or
setting up some context that will allow you to make a point soon.

------
glomph
When I am stuck on writing essays for a deadline I start by reading one or two
new articles on the particular topic I want to write about. Then I take
relativly detailed notes on the best article I read. I then spin those notes
out into exposition of the topic considered.

At that point there will be bits of the topic that I don't think any of the
articles captured completly or parts where I agree with one and not others. An
original point of view comes out of the synthesis.

If I am struggling at the stage where I spin the notes out into exposition I
follow a relativly simple framework that forces me to keep writing. I learned
it for exams but I think it is pretty versatile and adds clarty where
otherwise you would be waffeling: DICE

>>Define: Define the view / theory / idea / term under consideration.
Sometimes this will be pretty involved and amount to the meat of your
exposition. If it is getting too long though then you should break the concept
up and DICE individual parts as well as the bigger picture.

>>Ilustrate: Give an example of the thing under consideration in non abstract
terms.

>>Contrast: Define the contrasting ways of understanding or a competing theory
or an example of something that isn't covered by the theory.

>>Explain: Explain what motivates the theory you are considering and why it is
different from alternatives.

After doing that for all the parts involved in the topic I usually have some
areas that the original articles I considered didn't touch on. Then I get into
evaluating.

People imagine that originality is blue sky thinking. Occasionally it is. But
usually it is adding clarity or going further than someone already has on a
particular topic or presenting old ideas in a new light. Often times a good
reading of existing views adds light where a radical new approach just adds
heat.

------
pappyo
When I have a hard time writing, be it blog entries or fiction, I have found I
have one of two problems.

#1 I don't know enough about the content. I love when I have this problem
because it means I get to have unique (to me) experiences that will help me
flesh out my idea. I also realize that I'm not in a position to write
anything, which relieves some pressure.

Unfortunately, "not enough experience" is not one of my common hangups. Which
leads me to....

#2 I have a mechanical problem. Uh, I hate these, because they come in all
forms. It could be that I'm writing in a style that I'm not used to. Or that
I'm trying to write about a topic in a blog post that is meant for a book. Or
my first draft is a dumpster fire. Or I can't get through a first draft
because I'm worried about said dumpster fire. Or my idea isn't organized. Or
coherent. Or maybe I'm a terrible writer and should give up.

And on and on and on goes the spinning top if self loathing.

To combat it, I do a few things. First I make sure the idea and the medium
align. You wouldn't want to write a blog post about the geo political tensions
the Syrian refugee crisis has caused much like you wouldn't want to write a
book about your mom's famous beef stroganoff recipe.

Once you feel they align, tell yourself you're not a genius. Really, do it.
What you're about to write will be derivative and boring. It's going to be the
steamy turd you wish you never wrote.

Then polish the turd. Revise your writing the best you can. And finally have
someone (with some sort of credentials) critique it. Or if you're feeling
daring, set it off in the wild. After you do all that, put that piece out of
your head and start something else.

This advice, in and of itself, isn't novel. Hell, someone on this thread's
handle is FailMore. But that's all it is. Reps, fucking up and learning from
it.

And remember you're not the smartest guy in the room. So don't pretend to be.
But you can be interesting to some people, so work on that.

------
captn3m0
My favorite quote on writing comes from James Ervin's AMA[0]:

>And if you're going to write, write what you want to write. The odds against
any creator are insane. If you're going to devote months of your time, don't
let it be for an idea you think will sell. Odds are it won't. Write something
you want to write, or need to write. Write for yourself before anyone else.
I'd rather read someone who is excited and passionate about what they want to
say than someone who's obviously trying to say what they think I want to hear.

— James Erwin

I had the same issues with my writing recently (why should I even write
anything when there are far better people writing about these things). It
boiled down the following for me [1]:

1\. Self Learning (Writing about it makes you understand it betteer)

2\. Sharing knowledge (I want the knowledge to spread)

3\. Network Effect (People I know are far more likely to read my post as they
trust me)

4\. I love writing

Coming up with topics is harder. I tend to read a lot, and whenever I read
something I already knew, I put it in my "to-write-list". Essentially, the
idea is to write things that you'd like to read yourself, but can't find
anywhere. Another good idea is to take "auxiliary" topics instead of a core
topic. This means finding things that are interesting enough only when taken
together. For instance, don't write about Machine Learning, write about doing
Machine Learning with a specific toolkit or language.

Specific topics are always better than vague ones, in my experience.

[0]:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2w72o7/so_i_sold_a_re...](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2w72o7/so_i_sold_a_reddit_reply_to_warner_brothers_a_few/coo5gys)

[1]: [https://captnemo.in/blog/2015/06/07/on-
writing/](https://captnemo.in/blog/2015/06/07/on-writing/)

------
jjp
Take a look at the Pyramid Principle [pdf]
[http://www.consultingmethodology.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014...](http://www.consultingmethodology.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/03/Pyramid-principle_consulting-methodology.pdf),
developed by Barbara Minto from Mckinsey Consulting. It provides a framework
for structuring your thoughts and helping you identify the most important
points for your essay, blog post, presentation. The journalism pyramid does
similar but to my mind has less of a methodology.

------
jules
Why do you want to write? Do you _really_ want to write? To me it seems
strange to want to write about something, anything, but not knowing _what_ to
write about. I have the opposite problem: too many things to write about and
too little time to write about them. I don't want to write about them for the
sake of writing something, but because I find the topic interesting. It's like
the kid who is exploring a forest and found a cave, and is excited about the
cave and wants to share that excitement.

So I think the first thing you need to evaluate is whether you really want to
write and why. If the answer is you want to seem sophisticated and earn the
intellectual respect of being a writer then I can't give you any advice except
that maybe you should reconsider the decision to write. Write about topics
that interest you. Where does your mind wander when you are in the shower?
That's what you should write about. In most cases this is not a topic that
you've already fully understood. Those topics aren't interesting any more
because you already know the answers. Interesting topics are those for which
you need to do additional thinking and additional research. Write about what
you are learning _now_.

------
dragondave
Other people's heads contain different information that yours!

There are smarter people out there but they might not have your insights into
the challenges and rewards of hydroponic banana farming.

Two days ago you might not have known how to perform a particular task, and
searching the internet was fruitless. You might not be the first person to
have to work out how to do that from first principles -- but you can make sure
you might be the last!

Come up with an outline: maybe it's a rant like me talking about Excel (
[https://blog.scraperwiki.com/2015/07/eusprig/](https://blog.scraperwiki.com/2015/07/eusprig/)
) -- ugh, this sucks because A, and then people do B to get around C, and
can't even start to do D, E or F because they're stuck in this way of doing
things. Use that to structure what you're writing, flesh out those bare bones.

------
rabboRubble
The first idea, the first sentences are always the hardest. To get my fingers
typing, I would talk to myself "What do I want to say?" I would type this
sentence. Then I would answer myself out loud. "I want to talk about the
dangers of unapproved GMO foods escaping outside controlled grow areas and
into consumer farms." Then I type what I just said out loud. If I don't know
what I want to say, I answer myself "I don't know. This GMO topic interests me
because of the really interesting science behind the creation of these hybrid
plant lines. But I don't trust the human bureaucratic framework around the
scientists. I feel this way blah blah blah".

Verbal style obviously isn't written style. I edit things after I have a lot
more words on the page. But that out-loud Q&A gets my juices typing.

------
mswen
I have at times made my living writing and developing presentations for
audiences ranging from executives of major tech vendors to CIOs and their
teams at fortune 500 companies. My twenty-something daughter has just
completed a BA in Scientific and Technical Communication and has
simultaneously finished writing a suspense/horror novel. Both of us refer to
early drafts of our writing with the same phrase, "word vomit."

It is a gross and yet liberating label to what we do. By just getting the
ideas out there in a very loose, non-judgmental manner you get past your own
inner censor.

You can always decide later whether it is worth the effort of the second and
third draft to get it publication ready, but at least the ideas are out of
your head and you've made a start.

I hope this little phrase helps you get past your inner judge.

------
chad_strategic
I don't know exactly what you want to do, but creativity plays and large
role.Many years ago when I was younger I wanted to write screenplays for
Hollywood, used this book as a way to explore my creativity. Also reading as
much as you call and watching classic movies would help as well. The book is
called the Artists Way.

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585421464/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585421464/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1585421464&linkCode=as2&tag=stratoptio09-20&linkId=4BKOSWQXFLUCTEZ7)

------
FailMore
Hey Rayalez,

Some friends and I run a project which could be relevant. It is called Taaalk
([http://taaalk.co](http://taaalk.co)) and is an online platform for
conversations. So if you don't know what to write but have a friend that would
happily discuss a subject with you, or know someone you'd like to learn
something from by asking them questions then it works well.

We've found that people discover they know a lot of valuable information which
they didn't consider valuable until someone started asking them about it.
Sounds like this could apply to you. Drop me a line at josh[at]taaalk.co if
you want to get involved.

------
kafkaesque
I have a blog; a very unpopular blog that is probably read by two or three
people. I write essays and "blog posts" on there.

I also majored in literature and philosophy and had to write essays a lot. I
got a lot of As.

The first thing to learn is that every group of writers follows different
rules.

Think about why you want to publish your writings. Learn that context matters
-- that is, your target audience matters. People reading my blog posts don't
want the same thing as the people reading my essays at university. My
university essays have a different tone and style. To be sure, the essays on
my blog are the least popular, because they are very academic. That's okay. I
like to write that way sometimes.

Often the things that others find interesting in our writings are things the
writer would have never guessed. Because of this, it's all right to swallow
your pride and just hit "Publish." Some of it will be horrible, some of it
will be great. And there is always the stuff in between.

From a strictly academic perspective, the easiest type of essay to write is a
comparative essay. Compare books, ideas, or topics that are similar enough to
warrant a comparison; e.g., sexual parallels in Fifty Shades of Grey and
Marquis de Sade's literary oeuvre, if you're going for a wide appeal. I just
made that up. It's all experimentation.

Another academic "lesson" is when you're stuck writing an essay, it's time to
bring in another example.

These are standard techniques that possibly engender a style that is stale and
stiff. The more you cater to your reader, the more entertaining it'll be,
because you'll speak her or his vernacular.

Having said all that, I have only published my poetry in very small
publications. Nobody is interested in my short stories or essays (outside of
academia), and I am by no stretch of the imagination a blogger who others read
assiduously.

I am read by a very small circle of writer friends.

We have a joke.

We're good at things that don't have much value in modern culture.

It's a big joke.

And we're the punch line.

------
0898
The best essays start with a story or metaphor. Finding these stories and
connecting them to your topic can be hard. I wrote a book that shows you how
to do this. You can get it for free at Leanpub - it's called Hooked On You
([http://www.leanpub.com/hookedonyou](http://www.leanpub.com/hookedonyou)). It
comes with a few stories you can use to get you started. Hope it helps.

------
brandelune
This is pretty good from the ex-maintainer of Planner mode, Emacswiki mode and
Remember mode:

[https://gumroad.com/l/no-excuses-blogging](https://gumroad.com/l/no-excuses-
blogging)

------
lazyant
You can start by summarizing somebody's ideas (like Yudkowsky's), then
compared them to other authors you know. You can focus on one aspect and add
your own thoughts.

------
deeteecee
i think if you have trouble coming up with things to write about, your problem
is not on the writing portion. i don't know how other people do it but for me,
im constantly thinking and questioning things everyday (obviously the best
times is outside of work but even work springs ideas into my head). even as
you read books and other interesting content, you should be consistently
thinking and not sucking it in. hopefully that helps.

------
werber
Figure out what really makes you excited and reach out to people doing those
things. You'd be amazed as to who will respond to an unsolicited e-mail.

------
deepaksurti
pg wrote an essay on what an essay is and how you can write one. [1]

The most important take away from it was to not to write an essay to defend a
position, but to write one so you can express your idea that leads to
something interesting which is unknown to your audience, so you can share it!

[1]
[http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html)

------
biomed_viz
Tell a good story, if you and some people where sitting around a campfire what
would you say?

------
e12e
I'm afraid I don't really write enough to comment on how you should get
started. Or rather how you should get finished. The idea of noting down ideas,
snippets in a book (or digitally) _is_ good. I have a couple of rats nests of
small items, and todos, ideas -- 2/3s in various ColorNote[c]s on my Android
-- the rest in text files in a mercurial repo).

If the idea you note down is any good today, it'll be a good idea tomorrow
too. And a year from now.

If you have enough good starting points, actually spending some time writing
out an essay from them becomes easier. Remember you'll probably want to do at
least three re-writes if you're hoping the result is going to be any good.
Lots of people don't do that -- and it shows. _Most_ half-decent blog posts
would've been a lot better if the authors took the time to rework them a bit
more. Or, according to Hemmingway: "“The first draft of anything is shit.”

So with the caveat that I don't actually write much (yet?), the best book I've
read on writing is: William Zinsser's "On Writing Well":
[http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-
Edition/...](http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-
Edition/dp/0060891548)

Highly recommended for anyone that have to communicate in writing (ie:
everyone).

> I don't have anything to say to people who know less than me, because
> explaining obvious things seems boring, and I don't know what to say to
> people on HN/LessWrong, because I feel like they are smarter than me and
> already know everything I am about to say.

For essays, it can be good to write for yourself. To yourself, or someone much
like yourself, but someone who's perhaps not yet encountered one particular
idea, one particular technique -- one particular subject.

That usually gives a good framework for avoid "talking down". Write to
yourself of one, two or five years ago. There will be many that don't have
that last year, years of experience and circumstance that led you down the
path to were you are now. Perhaps such a perspective makes it easier for you
to share something?

[c]
[http://www.colornote.com/download.html](http://www.colornote.com/download.html)

I mostly use Colornote to keep track of _ideas_ , such as
app/application/project ideas along with a couple of bulletpoints (eg:
Reinvent email: look into alternative client/server sync such as jmap; store
email in normalized sql db?; document db?; store attachments based on content
hash? (free de-dup); Store email body as same? (Good for multi-user server
support for mailinglists ... etc))

------
aorth
Study Butterick's Practical Typography for tips on how to use typographic
elements well, for example using hyphens and dashes properly[0]. Once you read
a few of these tips you'll start seeing them _everywhere_ in professional
writing.

[0] [http://practicaltypography.com/hyphens-and-
dashes.html](http://practicaltypography.com/hyphens-and-dashes.html)

