Very intrigued, but I find Gemini's lack of functionality mindbending. I just logged in to Gemini and ask if I have access to Argon; it says it doesn't know, gives me instructions to click through workplace admin myself. Alrighty. I do as I'm told, discover I'm on the wrong tier, and ask Gemiade would cost; says it doesn't know! The other day I wanted to clean up the file structure on my Drive, archive old projects, delete fragments, etc.; Gemini couldn't do it, so I had to send in Claude to handle it. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Everything I do is in google so I'd love for this to work, but so far gemini just feels like a chatbot add on rather than leverage
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@p_millerd Also the way 'add a slide' has a 'help me choose' section, that would be useful in the checks section too
And for the vertical flow check, I think there's something in the way I've been formatting my slides that isn't getting picked up.
And for the vertical flow check, I think there's something in the way I've been formatting my slides that isn't getting picked up.
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Been editing this video all day and just realized I’ve got a booger hanging out.
Can Claude fix this? 😅
Can Claude fix this? 😅
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What a week 📈
Just crossed 5k subs on YouTube
Whatever I've achieved, I achieved through writing.
I grew up in a fishing village of 700 people. Writing was my way out.
I wrote my way into the school newspaper. Then the regional newspaper gave me a column.
I didn't have good grades, so I rsity. Wrote my way through it too.
When I got to Montreal, I didn't speak much French; so I handed out a CV that said I was an English writer. In Quebec, I would have had better chances of finding a job if I was a one-armed paperhanger. Yet somehow, I got a call back, and thus began my first job as a copywriter.
I spent my life learning the craft of writing, because I needed to. Writing wasn't just self-expression. It was a tool that bent the world to my will.
And I spent my career teaching it to people who needed it too.
Then came AI.
Everyone told me, this is it. Pack it up. Writings over. Learn to code.
My students agreed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince undergrads that it was worthwhile to write, because the classroom environment is such an artifice. In the classroom, you can't simulate the conditions that make writing matter.
This channel has been my way to connect with people who understand that writing is thinking (and AI is not).
I think it's incredible that 5,000 of you have rallied around this message. Thank you for being here.
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This writing tutorial just blew up on YouTube—70k+ views in 7 days.
It features four frameworks that reflect the cognitive patterns readers use to interpret your text.
When you use consciously the patterns that readers expect intuitively, your writing becomes a lot more clear.
It features four frameworks that reflect the cognitive patterns readers use to interpret your text.
When you use consciously the patterns that readers expect intuitively, your writing becomes a lot more clear.
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When you're an expert, you use writing as part of your thinking process. You're not merely transcribing thoughts you've already thought before; you're generating new knowledge.
So your thoughts, in this early phase, are a total mess.
Like a set of Christmas lights, the expert by untangling the web of ideas in your head into a linear pattern that makes sense to the writer.
But a text that makes sense to an expert writer—one that takes the shape of their thinking—is of little use to a reader. Indeed, the patterns that experts use to think about their subject actively fight against the patterns readers use to understand.
The name of this fight is interference, and it's why experts can't write well.
So your thoughts, in this early phase, are a total mess.
Like a set of Christmas lights, the expert by untangling the web of ideas in your head into a linear pattern that makes sense to the writer.
But a text that makes sense to an expert writer—one that takes the shape of their thinking—is of little use to a reader. Indeed, the patterns that experts use to think about their subject actively fight against the patterns readers use to understand.
The name of this fight is interference, and it's why experts can't write well.
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Just crossed 5k subs on YouTube
Whatever I've achieved, I achieved through writing.
I grew up in a fishing village of 700 people. Writing was my way out.
I wrote my way into the school newspaper. Then the regional newspaper gave me a column.
I didn't have good grades, so I rsity. Wrote my way through it too.
When I got to Montreal, I didn't speak much French; so I handed out a CV that said I was an English writer. In Quebec, I would have had better chances of finding a job if I was a one-armed paperhanger. Yet somehow, I got a call back, and thus began my first job as a copywriter.
I spent my life learning the craft of writing, because I needed to. Writing wasn't just self-expression. It was a tool that bent the world to my will.
And I spent my career teaching it to people who needed it too.
Then came AI.
Everyone told me, this is it. Pack it up. Writings over. Learn to code.
My students agreed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince undergrads that it was worthwhile to write, because the classroom environment is such an artifice. In the classroom, you can't simulate the conditions that make writing matter.
This channel has been my way to connect with people who understand that writing is thinking (and AI is not).
I think it's incredible that 5,000 of you have rallied around this message. Thank you for being here.
Whatever I've achieved, I achieved through writing.
I grew up in a fishing village of 700 people. Writing was my way out.
I wrote my way into the school newspaper. Then the regional newspaper gave me a column.
I didn't have good grades, so I rsity. Wrote my way through it too.
When I got to Montreal, I didn't speak much French; so I handed out a CV that said I was an English writer. In Quebec, I would have had better chances of finding a job if I was a one-armed paperhanger. Yet somehow, I got a call back, and thus began my first job as a copywriter.
I spent my life learning the craft of writing, because I needed to. Writing wasn't just self-expression. It was a tool that bent the world to my will.
And I spent my career teaching it to people who needed it too.
Then came AI.
Everyone told me, this is it. Pack it up. Writings over. Learn to code.
My students agreed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince undergrads that it was worthwhile to write, because the classroom environment is such an artifice. In the classroom, you can't simulate the conditions that make writing matter.
This channel has been my way to connect with people who understand that writing is thinking (and AI is not).
I think it's incredible that 5,000 of you have rallied around this message. Thank you for being here.
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@EcceArdens Sort of, but you can’t just let the words wash over you, you need to perceive the meaning. In applied linguistics it’s know as the Input Hypothesis youtube.com/watch?v=J_EQDt…
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@granawkins Similar to this guy's take youtube.com/watch?v=oDP-xj…
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@JohnBaldLangLit Can anyone underline the sentence in the abstract that tells us what problem Arday's research solves?
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@p_millerd Some writers have launch energy, and some have long game energy
writerscience.com/this-connected…
writerscience.com/this-connected…
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A good essay is like a set of instructions: it gives readers the info they need in the places and order they expect to find it.
Here are the five structural locations that readers use to interpret your essay—the places where they expect to find the answers to certain questions.
ons are unconscious.
But if you anticipate consciously what your readers expect intuitively, then you make your essay much more readable and valuable.
Here are the five structural locations that readers use to interpret your essay—the places where they expect to find the answers to certain questions.
ons are unconscious.
But if you anticipate consciously what your readers expect intuitively, then you make your essay much more readable and valuable.
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@david_perell The collapse of duality, the beatific vision, it's ineffable. It can't really be put it into words, because that would enact the symbolic separation. All you can do is laugh.
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Many writers are saying
Full visual guide available at Writer Science
writerscience.com/expert-writing/
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Readers hate it when writers try to pass off AI outputs as their own.
But some writers have been committing the same offense in reverse: they assemble premature ideas—scattered notes, drafts in progress, extemporaneous voice note transcripts—and use A.I. to 'clean it up.'
They more responsible, but it's just as pernicious.
These writers imagine writing style to be a coat of paint: the ideas are yours, they say, but AI provides the style.
But what they fail to understand, I argue in this video, is that style and substance are not independent variables; the idea and its expression are identical.
As style is manipulated, the message is distorted; and no clear style can be derived from an ill-conceived idea.
Timestamps
0:00 The AI writing debate is happening at the wrong level
1:14 Your writing should be like a first date
3:49 AI Writing Workflow #1: Dressing up AI output as your own
5:09 Writing starts with a vision
7:59 AI Writing Workflow #2: "Clean up my messy notes"
8:52 Fluency without understanding
11:54 Style and substance aren't independent variables
14:10 Good writing is a window onto the world
15:03 "But what if I give it more context?"
17:25 It comes down to spirit
But some writers have been committing the same offense in reverse: they assemble premature ideas—scattered notes, drafts in progress, extemporaneous voice note transcripts—and use A.I. to 'clean it up.'
They more responsible, but it's just as pernicious.
These writers imagine writing style to be a coat of paint: the ideas are yours, they say, but AI provides the style.
But what they fail to understand, I argue in this video, is that style and substance are not independent variables; the idea and its expression are identical.
As style is manipulated, the message is distorted; and no clear style can be derived from an ill-conceived idea.
Timestamps
0:00 The AI writing debate is happening at the wrong level
1:14 Your writing should be like a first date
3:49 AI Writing Workflow #1: Dressing up AI output as your own
5:09 Writing starts with a vision
7:59 AI Writing Workflow #2: "Clean up my messy notes"
8:52 Fluency without understanding
11:54 Style and substance aren't independent variables
14:10 Good writing is a window onto the world
15:03 "But what if I give it more context?"
17:25 It comes down to spirit
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Such a great use of AI video generation, imagines a vlog of an influencer who travels to ancient Rome youtube.com/watch?v=aaua5g…
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David Foster Wallace on book blurbs
@p_millerd Blurbs are such a weird genre, like academic citations, they end up being this endless loop of writers praising their friends and allies rather than actually telling you if the book is any good, way more about who the author knows than the writing itself
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In conversation, nobody complains about speaker's block. And we never wonder how to find my voice.
These problems are the domain of writing. Or so I thought.
But I saw these problems dissolve this summer when I coached a group of 25 writers in a nonfiction writing sprint. They al style lessons, nor were they coerced into the ship fast mentality with accountability partners or slogans like Just Press Publish.
Instead, they engaged in a community of practice. Simply by joining such a community of early readers—people you know, whose opinions you value, who follow a culturally-sanctioned method of reading, and who respond to your early work with the diagnosis and care of a physician—writers overcame these early obstacles.
Properly understood, writer's block and flat writing style aren't writing problems. They're just the symptom of writing outside an economy of care.
These problems are the domain of writing. Or so I thought.
But I saw these problems dissolve this summer when I coached a group of 25 writers in a nonfiction writing sprint. They al style lessons, nor were they coerced into the ship fast mentality with accountability partners or slogans like Just Press Publish.
Instead, they engaged in a community of practice. Simply by joining such a community of early readers—people you know, whose opinions you value, who follow a culturally-sanctioned method of reading, and who respond to your early work with the diagnosis and care of a physician—writers overcame these early obstacles.
Properly understood, writer's block and flat writing style aren't writing problems. They're just the symptom of writing outside an economy of care.
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🔥📄Hot off the press: Anatomy of a Great Essay
10 years of teaching nonfiction writing, compressed into these 4 pages
It includes every framework I use for teaching clear, valuable writing
10 years of teaching nonfiction writing, compressed into these 4 pages
It includes every framework I use for teaching clear, valuable writing
What makes the perfect essay? 5 Things:
1) An Intriguing Title
2) A Problem
3) A Fractal Pattern
4) Coherent Strings
5) A Solution
Here's visual guide to each, grounded in reader psychology:
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Anatomy of a Great Essay: A Visual Guide to Expert Writing
Yours for free over on Writer Science, the free newsletter for writers who care about readers.
writerscience.com/expert-writing/
Yours for free over on Writer Science, the free newsletter for writers who care about readers.
writerscience.com/expert-writing/
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A Fractal Pattern
Every unit of discourse takes the same shape.
At every level of resolution—clause :: paragraph :: section :: chapter :: book :: canon—there is a single fractal pattern: the Index and Discussion.
For the purposes of explanation, let's focus on the paragraph opens with an Index, 1-3 sentences that readers use to decide what the unit is doing. This position is the place where readers look to find out what the paragraph is about. They do this intuitively, whether or not you intend them to.
This position is sometimes referred to as a Topic Sentence, but that name isn't very useful because
1) Readers don't care about topics; they care about problems;
2) If you read professional prose, this unit is often more than a sentence long;
3) The term induces a revulsion to those abused by rules-based writing advice drilled into us in school.
The Index within one paragraph can be a single sentence. Use a 2-3 sentence Index when you're...
* Writing about something complex
* Opening with opposition (X. However, Y...)
* Positing a question (X. Why X? As we will see, Y...)
The Discussion is the space in which the Index is developed.
The scope of the Index position expands in proportion to the size of the unit it governs. Within larger units of discourse (a section, a chapter) the Index may comprise whole paragraphs or, indeed, whole books.
x.com/naval/status/1…
Every unit of discourse takes the same shape.
At every level of resolution—clause :: paragraph :: section :: chapter :: book :: canon—there is a single fractal pattern: the Index and Discussion.
For the purposes of explanation, let's focus on the paragraph opens with an Index, 1-3 sentences that readers use to decide what the unit is doing. This position is the place where readers look to find out what the paragraph is about. They do this intuitively, whether or not you intend them to.
This position is sometimes referred to as a Topic Sentence, but that name isn't very useful because
1) Readers don't care about topics; they care about problems;
2) If you read professional prose, this unit is often more than a sentence long;
3) The term induces a revulsion to those abused by rules-based writing advice drilled into us in school.
The Index within one paragraph can be a single sentence. Use a 2-3 sentence Index when you're...
* Writing about something complex
* Opening with opposition (X. However, Y...)
* Positing a question (X. Why X? As we will see, Y...)
The Discussion is the space in which the Index is developed.
The scope of the Index position expands in proportion to the size of the unit it governs. Within larger units of discourse (a section, a chapter) the Index may comprise whole paragraphs or, indeed, whole books.
x.com/naval/status/1…
Great work is fractal in nature - elegant from a distance, exquisite in the details.
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What makes the perfect essay? 5 Things:
1) An Intriguing Title
2) A Problem
3) A Fractal Pattern
4) Coherent Strings
5) A Solution
Here's visual guide to each, grounded in reader psychology:
1) An Intriguing Title
2) A Problem
3) A Fractal Pattern
4) Coherent Strings
5) A Solution
Here's visual guide to each, grounded in reader psychology:
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Questions about writing quality too often boil down to a matter of taste.
But reader psychology is a more objective basis for determining whether a certain text is successful.
If we know how readers read, then a reader psychology approach would want to shape our prose to match.
that readers read from left to right. And that it's easier to learn something when you can easily see how new information connects to what you already know. (Elon Musk: learning is easier when you see how the leaves/details of new information connect to the trunk/big branches of fundamental knowledge.)
From a reader psychology perspective, good writers locate familiar, backwards-linking information at the start of the sentence; and new, forward-linking information at the end of the sentence.
When you hear bogus writing advice (e.g., Vary the length of your sentences; Write what you know, don't think about reader interests), you can test its validity by asking: how does this relate to reader psychology? Does it work with or interfere with the patterns my reader uses to interpret my text?
But reader psychology is a more objective basis for determining whether a certain text is successful.
If we know how readers read, then a reader psychology approach would want to shape our prose to match.
that readers read from left to right. And that it's easier to learn something when you can easily see how new information connects to what you already know. (Elon Musk: learning is easier when you see how the leaves/details of new information connect to the trunk/big branches of fundamental knowledge.)
From a reader psychology perspective, good writers locate familiar, backwards-linking information at the start of the sentence; and new, forward-linking information at the end of the sentence.
When you hear bogus writing advice (e.g., Vary the length of your sentences; Write what you know, don't think about reader interests), you can test its validity by asking: how does this relate to reader psychology? Does it work with or interfere with the patterns my reader uses to interpret my text?
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@sophiasgaler Why do arguments for linguistic preservation always depend on the Sapir-Whorf fallacy? Given that a language is not a worldview but a medium of communication, wouldn't it be better if we all spoke the same tongue? x.com/WriterScience/…
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Right in the opening line to Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace packs his whole argument into a single metaphor.
By conflating the lobster industry with a nervous system, DFW makes the case upon which the rest of the essay expands: that we ignore animal suffering for the on.
Masterful use of a literary technique in nonfiction, going beyond mere description to packaging the essay's entire thesis into a single image.
That's the important thing about metaphor: it's not enough to simply link one thing to another thing; it's important that the second thing modifies or enhances our understanding of the first thing, so that the reader's voyage from things 1 to 2 is worth it.
By conflating the lobster industry with a nervous system, DFW makes the case upon which the rest of the essay expands: that we ignore animal suffering for the on.
Masterful use of a literary technique in nonfiction, going beyond mere description to packaging the essay's entire thesis into a single image.
That's the important thing about metaphor: it's not enough to simply link one thing to another thing; it's important that the second thing modifies or enhances our understanding of the first thing, so that the reader's voyage from things 1 to 2 is worth it.
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There is no secret architecture to great writing.
Writing style can’t be understood through a rational analysis of surface features—
sentence length, word choice, etc. Those are the outputs.
Take the iconic Seattle Library: strange shape on the surface; like it or not, its its architects at OMA didn’t begin with that shape in mind; they began with its users. They apportioned square footage to specific use cases, arranged those functional units so they could each get light and views, and wrapped a skin over the result. Like an ant colony, its shape is weird yet perfectly suited to the purposes of its users. Form follows function.
Prose is the same. You can’t understand (let alone design your own) writing style through attention to surface-level features; those are the downstream result of the rhetorical stand of the text.
Fix your stand—your orientation to your reader and to the world—and the style follows.
This happens naturally when we speak. You look at your interlocutor, you look at the world, and the words occur to you spontaneously. If you’re appropriately oriented, the words and patterns that follow are perfect—regardless of what the pattern analysts prescribe.
We forget this in writing because we ignore the reader on the other side of the page.
Focus on the reader, and style will follow.
Writing style can’t be understood through a rational analysis of surface features—
sentence length, word choice, etc. Those are the outputs.
Take the iconic Seattle Library: strange shape on the surface; like it or not, its its architects at OMA didn’t begin with that shape in mind; they began with its users. They apportioned square footage to specific use cases, arranged those functional units so they could each get light and views, and wrapped a skin over the result. Like an ant colony, its shape is weird yet perfectly suited to the purposes of its users. Form follows function.
Prose is the same. You can’t understand (let alone design your own) writing style through attention to surface-level features; those are the downstream result of the rhetorical stand of the text.
Fix your stand—your orientation to your reader and to the world—and the style follows.
This happens naturally when we speak. You look at your interlocutor, you look at the world, and the words occur to you spontaneously. If you’re appropriately oriented, the words and patterns that follow are perfect—regardless of what the pattern analysts prescribe.
We forget this in writing because we ignore the reader on the other side of the page.
Focus on the reader, and style will follow.
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Reject the writing rules of Strunk & White
Embrace reader psychology
Embrace reader psychology
If you learned to write from The Elements of Style, I've got bad news for you.
This book is one of the most popular writing guides out there. It's been in print constantly for over 100 years. And it's one of the top 10 most assigned books in university syllabi worldwide, bus.
You might even have a copy on your desk right now.
But what if I told you that it's wrong?
No–not just out of date or cliché. Wrong. Demonstrably wrong.
This book is responsible for some of the most pervasive myths about writing.
But not to worry: this video will debunk them all.
By the end of the video, you'll be able to cut through the misguided advice in this classic writing guide, and focus instead on what really counts: specific readers.
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@nateliason The format (quick thesis → TL;DR → long thesis → body) reminds me of the quickstart to @balajis's Network State book
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This made my experience with AI so much better.
Paste it into the universal instructions for your LLM of choice.
Full text below
Paste it into the universal instructions for your LLM of choice.
Full text below
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Alex Hormozi knows something about brand that I’m only starting to understand.
Whenever my girlfriend sees me in watching him she laughs, because if you don’t know him then he looks absurd: he’s this big, hairy guy in a tank top and jean cutoffs wearing a branded nose strip. icle and you find an explanation that links back to a positive trait that works for his brand.
The clothing is optimized for efficiency; he wanted an outfit that he can both wear outside and work out in. The tank top and hat carry his brand logo, which is a combination of the price-demand curve and a fulcrum, symbolizing leverage. Even the hair links back to his genetic roots in Iran, where his family were royals but had to flee the regime, which seized from them everything but their education.
Whenever my girlfriend sees me in watching him she laughs, because if you don’t know him then he looks absurd: he’s this big, hairy guy in a tank top and jean cutoffs wearing a branded nose strip. icle and you find an explanation that links back to a positive trait that works for his brand.
The clothing is optimized for efficiency; he wanted an outfit that he can both wear outside and work out in. The tank top and hat carry his brand logo, which is a combination of the price-demand curve and a fulcrum, symbolizing leverage. Even the hair links back to his genetic roots in Iran, where his family were royals but had to flee the regime, which seized from them everything but their education.
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Community platform for writers is coming along nicely.
So far we've got one event type down solid: round tables, in which one person submits an essay for feedback and two other members provide letters of response (2ish pages of feedback). We meet live, the author of the essay and camera, and the others read the LoRs and then discuss for about an hour.
We settled on this format because it simulates how the author's text actually moves through the world: when readers read it, the author won't be there to clarify any misinterpretations. So in these sessions they just listen while everyone else works their way through the text.
Going to add in focus sprints next, in which we tackle a writing project over the course of 10ish days
So far we've got one event type down solid: round tables, in which one person submits an essay for feedback and two other members provide letters of response (2ish pages of feedback). We meet live, the author of the essay and camera, and the others read the LoRs and then discuss for about an hour.
We settled on this format because it simulates how the author's text actually moves through the world: when readers read it, the author won't be there to clarify any misinterpretations. So in these sessions they just listen while everyone else works their way through the text.
Going to add in focus sprints next, in which we tackle a writing project over the course of 10ish days
I've been vibe coding a community platform for my writing mentorship, and I accidentally recreated Facebook from first principles
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@WalkMontreal My friend got pranked here by Just for Laughs youtu.be/2uF-a9TV8es?si…
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Good writing style is a function of friction and fidelity.
Any writing style that increases friction, making the reader work harder to understand, is bad—opaque, dense, turgid.
Also bad is any that lowers fidelity, making the reader’s interpretation different than the writer’s writing style is the set of any language patterns that produces low friction, high fidelity.
Any writing style that increases friction, making the reader work harder to understand, is bad—opaque, dense, turgid.
Also bad is any that lowers fidelity, making the reader’s interpretation different than the writer’s writing style is the set of any language patterns that produces low friction, high fidelity.
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@nateliason That's the digest of Caleb Ralston's (ex-team Hormozi & Gary V) 6-hour masterclass youtu.be/Ch4Sl0POBhU?si…
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I've been vibe coding a community platform for my writing mentorship, and I accidentally recreated Facebook from first principles
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This writing advice makes no sense if you think about it for more than a second.
Sentence length has no effect on prosody. At best it controls rhythm. But still, it’s not a relevant variable for readers.
Readers don’t care about sentence length. What they care about is value.
Sentence length has no effect on prosody. At best it controls rhythm. But still, it’s not a relevant variable for readers.
Readers don’t care about sentence length. What they care about is value.
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Readers don't read your sentences. They look through them, at the world.
And the way we make sense of the world is through stories.
Like all stories, every sentence is about someone doing something: a character, an action.
That's the pattern readers intuitively bring to your or characters and actions, and they expect to find them in two specific slots—the subject and the verb.
When your characters and actions land there, reading feels easy. When they don't, it doesn't.
Take this:
> His policy proposal was the topic of discussion.
Hard to read—and not because the words are long. It's because the actions (propose, discuss) have been smuggled into nouns (proposal, discussion).
The only verb is "was." Nobody is doing anything.
Now this:
> We discussed the policy he proposed.
Characters (we, he) performing actions (discussed, proposed), right where the reader is looking for them.
Alright, maybe it's not Shakespeare. But if the sentence is noticeably easier to process, it's because it matches the pattern readers already use to decode sentences and understand the world.
Want your writing to feel effortless? Do two things:
And the way we make sense of the world is through stories.
Like all stories, every sentence is about someone doing something: a character, an action.
That's the pattern readers intuitively bring to your or characters and actions, and they expect to find them in two specific slots—the subject and the verb.
When your characters and actions land there, reading feels easy. When they don't, it doesn't.
Take this:
> His policy proposal was the topic of discussion.
Hard to read—and not because the words are long. It's because the actions (propose, discuss) have been smuggled into nouns (proposal, discussion).
The only verb is "was." Nobody is doing anything.
Now this:
> We discussed the policy he proposed.
Characters (we, he) performing actions (discussed, proposed), right where the reader is looking for them.
Alright, maybe it's not Shakespeare. But if the sentence is noticeably easier to process, it's because it matches the pattern readers already use to decode sentences and understand the world.
Want your writing to feel effortless? Do two things:
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Writers needed a way to practice the craft, the way pianists can run the scales.
So I built one: 10 simple exercises, designed to help you write better sentences.
So I built one: 10 simple exercises, designed to help you write better sentences.
Writers have pianist envy.
Piano players don't aim to write a masterpiece everyday. They can just sit down and practice the scales.
But writers don't have scales. We've just got the blank page.
So I made the writer's scales: 10 sentence structures you can practice right now.
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Directors know: the audience cares about whatever shows up center frame.
Writers forget this.
They put abstractions at the center of their shots. Characters get pushed to the edges. They appear like extras, hovering just out of frame.
Writers forget this.
They put abstractions at the center of their shots. Characters get pushed to the edges. They appear like extras, hovering just out of frame.
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In writing, the center of the shot is the subject position: it's the location that tells readers what the sentence is about.
Consider the same moment framed four different ways: Same information; Four different stories.
The subject position tells the reader who to care about.
Consider the same moment framed four different ways: Same information; Four different stories.
The subject position tells the reader who to care about.
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Just aim to balance the four strands of language learning:
1) start with comprehensible input (reading and listening to stories, 98% should be comprehensible, only 4-5 words in 100 should be unfamiliar);
2) memorize useful vocabulary using flash cards (Anki is great). Use frequency lists e that the items you study give you the best coverage. Some grammar practice can be helpful, but don’t make too much of it; you absorb most of it through input.
3) fluency practice, means getting faster at using what you already know. Practice using the language under time pressure, not focusing at all on correctness, only on volume
4) meaning-focused output: using all the language you’ve developed in previous stages, practice using it in meaningful exchange. Record it with your phone, review your mistakes or ask for feedback, and use that to select your next round of input
1) start with comprehensible input (reading and listening to stories, 98% should be comprehensible, only 4-5 words in 100 should be unfamiliar);
2) memorize useful vocabulary using flash cards (Anki is great). Use frequency lists e that the items you study give you the best coverage. Some grammar practice can be helpful, but don’t make too much of it; you absorb most of it through input.
3) fluency practice, means getting faster at using what you already know. Practice using the language under time pressure, not focusing at all on correctness, only on volume
4) meaning-focused output: using all the language you’ve developed in previous stages, practice using it in meaningful exchange. Record it with your phone, review your mistakes or ask for feedback, and use that to select your next round of input
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One of the greatest essayists of her generation, Zadie Smith reveals the 6-part framework she uses to write every essay.
One trick is to begin by writing the first and last sentences. That gives the piece a sense of closure, and gives the writer a North Star.
Here are six more:
One trick is to begin by writing the first and last sentences. That gives the piece a sense of closure, and gives the writer a North Star.
Here are six more:
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The folk theory of writing is that a reader reads your words, that what they're looking at is the text.
But readers don't look at your text; they look through it, at the world. The text is a lens, an instrument, a pair of glasses.
What readers care about is the world they f it, and whether that world is now (having read your text) different in a way they value.
Grammar is the UI layer of a world-building machine the writer deploys in the mind of the reader.
But readers don't look at your text; they look through it, at the world. The text is a lens, an instrument, a pair of glasses.
What readers care about is the world they f it, and whether that world is now (having read your text) different in a way they value.
Grammar is the UI layer of a world-building machine the writer deploys in the mind of the reader.
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@ddeutsch Recently made this resource that allows writers to practice sentence structures, the way a musician can play the scales. writerscience.com/sentence-patte…
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> It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
Why it works: This sentence states an opinion as if everyone already agrees with it, delivering it with such calm certainty that the reader feels it would be strck is the steady, unhurried tone: it sounds less like one person's view and more like a settled fact about the world.
How to use it: Pick one item from each column to assert a confident truth.
Why it works: This sentence states an opinion as if everyone already agrees with it, delivering it with such calm certainty that the reader feels it would be strck is the steady, unhurried tone: it sounds less like one person's view and more like a settled fact about the world.
How to use it: Pick one item from each column to assert a confident truth.
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Writers have pianist envy.
Piano players don't aim to write a masterpiece everyday. They can just sit down and practice the scales.
But writers don't have scales. We've just got the blank page.
So I made the writer's scales: 10 sentence structures you can practice right now.
Piano players don't aim to write a masterpiece everyday. They can just sit down and practice the scales.
But writers don't have scales. We've just got the blank page.
So I made the writer's scales: 10 sentence structures you can practice right now.
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Received my first ever tip for an email!
The newsletter was based on a workshop I delivered today, which helped a group of writers figure out what to write about.
The newsletter was based on a workshop I delivered today, which helped a group of writers figure out what to write about.
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My friend attached a notepad to his steering wheel so he can take notes while listening to podcasts
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The problem with personal essays is right there in the name: they're personal.
Stop writing about yourself and start writing about the world, says Zadie Smith, who developed a simple writing framework that'll help you write useful essays.
Stop writing about yourself and start writing about the world, says Zadie Smith, who developed a simple writing framework that'll help you write useful essays.
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Feeling stuck?
Here's my honest take on the best way to break through a creative block.
(Hint: It's not discipline)
Here's my honest take on the best way to break through a creative block.
(Hint: It's not discipline)
What if writer's block is a sign that you're on the verge of a creative breakthrough?
Discussed:
0:00 Why discipline makes writer's block worse
0:45 The great foreigner novel that never got written
2:11 What happened two nights after packing up the typewriter
3:16 Why the ly alien
4:16 What a 10-day silent retreat does to your creativity
5:27 What both breakthroughs had in common
5:43 Where creativity actually comes from
6:32 Lacan's three registers explained
7:07 The Imaginary self
7:21 The Symbolic self
7:39 The Real
8:28 How your ego blocks the source of your creativity
8:58 Packing up the typewriter was killing an identity
10:08 Why the Symbolic self calcifies
10:50 What writer's block actually is
11:28 Losing face as a creative act
12:40 You have to let yourself die for your work to live
13:10 Why writers shouldn't take advice from comedians
14:12 Discipline is just a patch for a mismatch between identity and true self
14:27 The elephant and the rider
15:21 Why long-term projects get abandoned
16:14 What if the elephant knew better than the rider?
16:41 The night shift
17:05 How Kekulé solved benzene in a dream
17:36 Why musicians improve overnight
19:16 Why the unconscious speaks in images, not language
20:18 The unconscious is not your adversary
22:34 Creativity as a volcano
23:21 What freewriting is not
24:26 The only goal of freewriting
25:00 Magma dropped into a bucket
26:23 Playing with paint vs. sketching a painting
27:01 When the analytical mind comes online
27:53 Why sequence matters: you can't sculpt magma 28:19 Gifts from the gods
28:56 Two kinds of conversation
30:22 What happens when you stop monitoring what you're saying
31:47 Raw material first, intellect second
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Everybody wants to find their own unique writing style/voice.
Nobody wants to define what that means.
Here's a catalogue of some popular definitions of writing style that I've been keeping.
If they all sound vague and confusing, it's because they are.
Nobody wants to define what that means.
Here's a catalogue of some popular definitions of writing style that I've been keeping.
If they all sound vague and confusing, it's because they are.
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Jargon isn't just pretension and pomp. It's also a membership card.
People love to clown leftist academics for their puffy, noxious abstractions. But to be fair, we all do this.
The relevant question is whether the writer knows who they're talking to.
People love to clown leftist academics for their puffy, noxious abstractions. But to be fair, we all do this.
The relevant question is whether the writer knows who they're talking to.
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Together, we can stop the Gary Provost mind virus.
Great meme, but sentence length has no relationship to music.
If writing music is what you want, then you'd better listen to James Joyce, who gives an excellent tip for developing harmony through thematic coherence.
Great meme, but sentence length has no relationship to music.
If writing music is what you want, then you'd better listen to James Joyce, who gives an excellent tip for developing harmony through thematic coherence.
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We all make mistakes. Here are mine: Writing advice that I've changed my mind about (after teaching it for 10 years)
0:00 Five pieces of writing advice I changed my mind on
0:15 Myth #1 — The Gary Provost sentence-length meme (and why it's wrong)
2:17 What "music" in prose s. surface-level tricks)
3:30 The deeper problem: surface features vs. substance
4:21 Myth #2 — Active voice only (and what it costs you)
6:11 Darwin and the passive voice: a case study in agency
8:33 What voice choices actually do for meaning
9:00 Myth #3 — Jargon means you have nothing to say
11:39 Language as social signal: ingroup membership and code-switching
13:36 The real test: does the writer know their audience?
14:57 Myth #4 — Outline before you write
16:22 The ant colony: emergent structure vs. imposed structure
16:54 The artist phase: writing as discovery
18:18 The architect phase: uncovering the structure after
20:07 Myth #5 — Don't worry about your readers
21:36 The purpose of nonfiction: expression vs. changing minds
22:10 The Thich Nhat Hanh analogy: where ideas actually live
23:18 The only question that matters when assessing a language choice
23:32 Four questions to ask about your reader before revising
0:00 Five pieces of writing advice I changed my mind on
0:15 Myth #1 — The Gary Provost sentence-length meme (and why it's wrong)
2:17 What "music" in prose s. surface-level tricks)
3:30 The deeper problem: surface features vs. substance
4:21 Myth #2 — Active voice only (and what it costs you)
6:11 Darwin and the passive voice: a case study in agency
8:33 What voice choices actually do for meaning
9:00 Myth #3 — Jargon means you have nothing to say
11:39 Language as social signal: ingroup membership and code-switching
13:36 The real test: does the writer know their audience?
14:57 Myth #4 — Outline before you write
16:22 The ant colony: emergent structure vs. imposed structure
16:54 The artist phase: writing as discovery
18:18 The architect phase: uncovering the structure after
20:07 Myth #5 — Don't worry about your readers
21:36 The purpose of nonfiction: expression vs. changing minds
22:10 The Thich Nhat Hanh analogy: where ideas actually live
23:18 The only question that matters when assessing a language choice
23:32 Four questions to ask about your reader before revising
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What if writer's block is a sign that you're on the verge of a creative breakthrough?
Discussed:
0:00 Why discipline makes writer's block worse
0:45 The great foreigner novel that never got written
2:11 What happened two nights after packing up the typewriter
3:16 Why the ly alien
4:16 What a 10-day silent retreat does to your creativity
5:27 What both breakthroughs had in common
5:43 Where creativity actually comes from
6:32 Lacan's three registers explained
7:07 The Imaginary self
7:21 The Symbolic self
7:39 The Real
8:28 How your ego blocks the source of your creativity
8:58 Packing up the typewriter was killing an identity
10:08 Why the Symbolic self calcifies
10:50 What writer's block actually is
11:28 Losing face as a creative act
12:40 You have to let yourself die for your work to live
13:10 Why writers shouldn't take advice from comedians
14:12 Discipline is just a patch for a mismatch between identity and true self
14:27 The elephant and the rider
15:21 Why long-term projects get abandoned
16:14 What if the elephant knew better than the rider?
16:41 The night shift
17:05 How Kekulé solved benzene in a dream
17:36 Why musicians improve overnight
19:16 Why the unconscious speaks in images, not language
20:18 The unconscious is not your adversary
22:34 Creativity as a volcano
23:21 What freewriting is not
24:26 The only goal of freewriting
25:00 Magma dropped into a bucket
26:23 Playing with paint vs. sketching a painting
27:01 When the analytical mind comes online
27:53 Why sequence matters: you can't sculpt magma 28:19 Gifts from the gods
28:56 Two kinds of conversation
30:22 What happens when you stop monitoring what you're saying
31:47 Raw material first, intellect second
Discussed:
0:00 Why discipline makes writer's block worse
0:45 The great foreigner novel that never got written
2:11 What happened two nights after packing up the typewriter
3:16 Why the ly alien
4:16 What a 10-day silent retreat does to your creativity
5:27 What both breakthroughs had in common
5:43 Where creativity actually comes from
6:32 Lacan's three registers explained
7:07 The Imaginary self
7:21 The Symbolic self
7:39 The Real
8:28 How your ego blocks the source of your creativity
8:58 Packing up the typewriter was killing an identity
10:08 Why the Symbolic self calcifies
10:50 What writer's block actually is
11:28 Losing face as a creative act
12:40 You have to let yourself die for your work to live
13:10 Why writers shouldn't take advice from comedians
14:12 Discipline is just a patch for a mismatch between identity and true self
14:27 The elephant and the rider
15:21 Why long-term projects get abandoned
16:14 What if the elephant knew better than the rider?
16:41 The night shift
17:05 How Kekulé solved benzene in a dream
17:36 Why musicians improve overnight
19:16 Why the unconscious speaks in images, not language
20:18 The unconscious is not your adversary
22:34 Creativity as a volcano
23:21 What freewriting is not
24:26 The only goal of freewriting
25:00 Magma dropped into a bucket
26:23 Playing with paint vs. sketching a painting
27:01 When the analytical mind comes online
27:53 Why sequence matters: you can't sculpt magma 28:19 Gifts from the gods
28:56 Two kinds of conversation
30:22 What happens when you stop monitoring what you're saying
31:47 Raw material first, intellect second
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@kinginmotion Yes, the keyword index is updated weekly by one of the 3 ai agents youtu.be/_ribgj7VIGc?si…
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One of my favorite YouTubers points his camera at my Korean hometown of Busan, what a gem youtu.be/DyxKa7RaVoY?si…
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A successful writing system is like a successful business: one whose outputs are more valuable than its inputs.
Most second brains are just filing cabinets. But this one converts notes, dreams, marginalia into manuscripts.
Here's how I built it (and how AI made it possible)
Most second brains are just filing cabinets. But this one converts notes, dreams, marginalia into manuscripts.
Here's how I built it (and how AI made it possible)
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The best science writers don't dumb down their essay; they clear it up.
Four moves do most of the work, and Siddhartha Mukherjee uses them all.
I did a deep dive into his @NewYorker essay so you can watch a master essayist at work:
Four moves do most of the work, and Siddhartha Mukherjee uses them all.
I did a deep dive into his @NewYorker essay so you can watch a master essayist at work:
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Sam Harris is at his best when he talks about the science of consciousness and meditation. Saw this documentary he produced on psychedelics last night and it’s excellent youtu.be/r5KRnstXYUg?si…
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A psychoanalyst said she learned to treat her typewriter like a stuffed animal.
When I heard that, I immediately realized what'd been missing from my writing practice: imagination, fantasy, play.
Play is its own reward. This kind of writing is worth it, even if no one reads it.
When I heard that, I immediately realized what'd been missing from my writing practice: imagination, fantasy, play.
Play is its own reward. This kind of writing is worth it, even if no one reads it.
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Thanks to a helpful reader for pointing out this typo in Point 1, which mistakenly duplicates the model sentence. The first one should read:
> Administrative delays in proposal review have led to project cancellations.
What's center stage? [ Delays ]
But who is the main chas ]
> Administrative delays in proposal review have led to project cancellations.
What's center stage? [ Delays ]
But who is the main chas ]
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