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writing

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Putting Ideas into Words
2 months ago
- Writing reveals that you didn't know a topic as well as you thought; it forces precise and complete expression.
- The process of writing involves rewriting and revising; many ideas emerge during writing.
- The real test is reading your writing as a neutral stranger; this often reveals flaws and omissions.
- Unconscious knowledge becomes conscious when you explain it; writing helps learn even about subjects you know well.
- Writing is a stricter test than talking because it requires committing to exact words and allows focused revision.
- Those who never write about nontrivial topics have no fully formed ideas about them, though they may not realize it.
<antirez>
2 months ago
- After two years of work, the author's first science fiction novel, Wohpe, has been published in Italian bookstores, on Amazon, and other digital stores.
- Writing a novel-length prose was a learning experience from scratch, akin to a novice chess player learning to evaluate moves with coherence and intent.
- Beginners lack a personal style and cannot judge their own writing; true learning comes from writing itself and rereading chosen models, not just reading broadly.
- The Italian publishing market is brutal: a successful sci-fi book sells 500 copies, while most sell under 100, a stark contrast to the millions of users for even a mediocre program.
- Despite the disproportion between effort and audience response, writing prose is deeply satisfying, and the author encourages others to write for the intrinsic rewards.
- The author is at a crossroads—whether to continue writing, coding, or both—and awaits the reception of Wohpe in Italian and its upcoming English translation.
I know your secret
2 months ago
- The author interviewed bloggers and found they each had a unique secret
- The secret was not a dark personal revelation but something that inspired their writing
- The blog post discusses turning unknowns into knowns through secrets
- It implies that having a secret can fuel creativity and discovery
Blog Jamboree 2026: The Winners
2 months ago
- Third annual Experimental History Blog Post Competition had 68 submissions from diverse backgrounds.
- All winners were verified as 100% human-written using Pangram AI detector.
- First place ($500): 'How to Survive Boiling Water' by Jane Cook, an effort post about probiotic bacteria.
- Second place ($250): 'Magical Constitutionalism' by Ricardo López Cordero, a short post about vape in constitutions.
- Third place ($100): 'Remembering Indonesia from My Grandpa' by Melanie Hsieh, exploring Chinese-Indonesian roots.
- Honorable mentions include posts on memory, fish farts, chatbot conversations, and automatic toilets.
- The competition highlights the value of curation in surfacing new writers.
Active recall
2 months ago
- The author resonates with Murakami's idea that writing helps grasp and understand concepts, not just reading.
- Memory is not a fixed trait; the author's good memory comes from writing about ideas and experiences, not from innate ability.
- A study by Karpike and Blunt (2011) found that free recall (writing from memory) leads to better retention than rereading or concept mapping, even when the test requires concept mapping.
- The author's blog, notes, and journal are forms of free recall, proving that the act of writing, not re-reading, improves memory.
- The author advocates for teaching effective study techniques like active recall and note-taking in schools.
Passive Voice Considered Harmful
2 months ago
- Passive voice omits critical information like who performs an action, creating ambiguity.
- Active voice follows 'actor → verb → object' structure, which is clearer and easier to parse.
- Converting passive sentences to active voice often reveals gaps in thinking or design.
- Passive voice can be useful to avoid assigning blame in problem discussions.
- It can communicate mistakes tactfully without sounding accusatory.
- It can omit irrelevant details that don't contribute to the core narrative.
- Recognizing passive voice involves spotting a form of 'to be' plus a past participle.
How to Write Blog Posts that Developers Read
2 months ago
- Meandering introductions drive readers away; answer 'who is this for?' and 'what's the benefit?' within the first three sentences.
- Broaden your article's appeal by making small adjustments to reach a larger audience (e.g., from advanced Java devs to all Java devs).
- Plan how readers will find your post—consider Google, Hacker News, Reddit, or niche forums—and choose topics with a clear distribution path.
- Use images (screenshots, diagrams, illustrations) to break up text and increase visual interest.
- Structure your article with clear headings and visuals so skimmers can quickly assess its value.
A Version 1.0
2 months ago
- Good writing requires extensive rewriting, with false starts and cuts being common.
- Real essays are exploratory, not argumentative; they begin with questions, not theses.
- School essays, focused on literary analysis, are disconnected from real writing and often discourage students.
- Essays should aim for surprise and follow an interesting, meandering path like a river.
Persuade xor Discover
2 months ago
- Social conventions of being ingratiating in print are more dangerous than in person because they mix with ideas, leading to real lies.
- Politicians use spin to soften the impact of truths, but this padding can distort the core message.
- An example compares a blunt paragraph about labor unions with a rewritten version that pleases union supporters while making the same point.
- Writing to persuade often requires pandering to readers' misconceptions, whereas writing to discover aims for truth and conciseness.
- Essay writers face a trade-off: pleasing readers vs. exploring surprising ideas without distortion.
- Conciseness helps clarify ideas, while excessive spin can lead to self-deception and hinder discovery.
Writing and Speaking
2 months ago
- The author values having good ideas over being a good speaker, as ideas are central to writing but less important in speaking.
- A good speaker can engage an audience with delivery and humor, even if the content is shallow, unlike writing where substance matters more.
- Writing allows more time to refine sentences and generate ideas, while speaking requires ad-libbing or rehearsing, which can limit idea depth.
- Audience dynamics in talks can amplify less intelligent reactions, making speaking more about bullshitting, especially with less intelligent audiences.
- Talks are not useless; they motivate action and allow personal connection with speakers, though emotional force can be used for good or ill.
Write Simply
2 months ago
- Writing with ordinary words and simple sentences makes it easier for readers to engage deeply with ideas.
- Reducing friction in reading helps readers stay engaged longer and reach the end of the text.
- The goal is to make ideas leap into the reader's head, minimizing awareness of the words (like saltintesta).
- Simple writing is more considerate, especially for non-native English speakers, and doesn't burden readers.
- Fancy writing can hide a lack of substance, while simple writing forces honesty.
- Simple writing lasts better over time as culture and language change, signaling quality.
- The author writes simply because they find complex or intellectual prose clumsy, not accidental.
- The writing process involves fast first drafts followed by extensive editing and cutting to achieve simplicity.
The Need to Read
2 months ago
- Reading teaches both knowledge and how to write, not just content.
- Writing is a way to discover new ideas, not merely a transcript of thoughts.
- There is a unique kind of thinking that can only be done through writing.
- For complex, ill-defined problems, writing is almost always helpful, and poor writing skill is a disadvantage.
- Good thinking requires good writing, and good writing requires good reading.
Notes from April 2026
2 months ago
- Published 'In defense of GitHub’s poor uptime' arguing criticism is exaggerated.
- Released version 0.2.0 of setbigtimeout, a JavaScript library for long delays.
- Contributed articles to Zelda Dungeon, including April Fool's content.
- Ghost (employer) was recognized as a digital public good.
- Shared a post arguing automation isn't a cure-all for human experiences.
- Subscribed to RSS feed for internet RFCs.
- Noted that LLM coding gains are incremental, not revolutionary.
- Bookmarked a list of books critical of AI from 1976 to today.
- Recommended podcast episodes on driverless cars with a call for better future visions.
- Highlighted internal employee concerns at Palantir regarding ethics under Trump's second term.
- Spotted the 'Fuck Capitalism' game jam as a nerdy punk rock event.
<antirez>
2 months ago
- Programming and writing novels share common traits: both involve writing with grammar and structure, requiring coherence at micro and macro levels.
- Consistency is crucial in both activities; daily progress—even small amounts—is key to success.
- Writer's block exists in programming as well, though it's perceived as laziness in engineering versus a creative process in art.
- A key difference is that novels are mostly immutable after finalization, while code evolves continuously through multiple changes.
- Programmers can learn from writers: treat the first version of a system as a single bullet, revising it thoroughly to ensure a strong initial design.
- Author provides an update on his sci-fi novel: manuscript sent to editor, with plans for review and eventual publication in Italian and English.
Saying the obvious thing
2 months ago
- Stating the obvious is useful because much of our knowledge is subconscious, and articulating it can clarify our own thoughts.
- Reading obvious truths that are rarely discussed can provide catharsis and validation, especially for junior engineers noticing unspoken workplace realities.
- Stating the obvious is difficult because it requires dropping layers of interpretation to see what's actually there, similar to drawing what you see.
- Articulating obvious truths is valuable in technical blogging, design documents, and literature, as it aligns understanding and captures essential human experiences.
- Don't avoid writing down obvious ideas; they can recede from consciousness quickly, and they help newcomers feel less isolated.
- Stating the obvious provides a foundation for exploring nuanced, non-obvious implications that would be inaccessible without first stating the obvious.
Blog about things you don't understand yet
2 months ago
- The author writes about topics they don't fully understand as a method to learn more through research and writing.
- Every blog post argues a specific, controversial point, which forces deeper thinking and research.
- Structured writing (like arguing a point) is easier than unstructured self-expression because it narrows choices.
- Writing helps clarify thinking; the author often changes their mind and improves conclusions during the process.
- Blogging about unfamiliar topics is acceptable because beginners can explain concepts more clearly than experts.
- Public consensus on topics can be wrong, and even basic research can offer valuable corrections.
- Feedback, whether from readers or LLMs, is essential, though thick skin is needed for public criticism.
- The author recommends blogging as a tool for clearer thinking, and suggests signs of effective writing: changing your mind and improving your conclusion.
- Private blogging with AI feedback is also beneficial for learning.
Proving a Human Wrote Something
2 months ago
- The author resolved to write more blog posts after their company dissolved, but was hindered by laziness, busyness, and self-doubt.
- They use AI extensively for coding and automation but worry it may dull their mental skills.
- Unlike deterministic code generation, they prefer writing manually because AI's stylistic tricks differ from their own voice.
- To prove human authorship, they created Semoi, an Obsidian plugin that tracks keystrokes and writing time, cryptographically signing the data.
- Semoi's heuristic compares human typing (slow, many keystrokes) to AI copy-paste (fast, single paste), though it is not foolproof.
- No text or author identity is sent to the server; only anonymized timing and keystroke data.
- The project aims to inspire better solutions for verifying human-written content.
Text as Music
2 months ago
- The Playground tool treats text as music, highlighting each sentence by its length to visualize rhythm.
- A uniform color (same sentence length) indicates monotony; a mix of lengths creates a healthy, musical rhythm.
- Users can paste text and copy it wrapped in a prompt asking an AI to improve its rhythm.
- The tool includes a quote from Gary Provost: 'Don’t just write words. Write music.'
TK, or the secret to effortless writing (2024)
2 months ago
- Use 'TK' as a placeholder for missing words or ideas while writing to maintain momentum.
- TK serves as a built-in TODO checklist, easily searchable with two characters that rarely appear in words.
- TK is preferred over alternatives like 'TODO' or 'tc' to avoid false positives in searches.

firstprev0next

writing

Putting Ideas into Words

<antirez>

I know your secret

Blog Jamboree 2026: The Winners

Active recall

Passive Voice Considered Harmful

How to Write Blog Posts that Developers Read

A Version 1.0

Persuade xor Discover

Writing and Speaking

Write Simply

The Need to Read

Notes from April 2026

<antirez>

Saying the obvious thing

Blog about things you don't understand yet

Proving a Human Wrote Something

Text as Music

TK, or the secret to effortless writing (2024)