2022-11-03 Thu 12:59 PM ![[moses_a_tiny_robot_in_a_workshop_writing_a_list_claymation_7904dede-5a9f-48a0-858d-515b943c5b96.png]] [[What is my writing process]]? Here's a totally disorganized list of ideas and techniques. - [[Only write when it's easy]] - [[Find the easy next step]] - Write [[Shitty first draft]]s - Tending the mind and soul [[Care for the soul]] - [[Set the poet up to flow]] - [[The managers want integration too]] - [[Welcome the inspired parts]] - [[Everything starts from a mood]] - [[Put Self first]] to write from [[Harmonarchy]] - Don't get [[Fuckwad]]ded or [[Incentive trap|Capture]]d in any sense. - Learn how to not wind up with your [[Back against the wall]] - [[Motivation by last-minute panic]] is not the only way - [[Build your success on top of activities you love]] - [[Let the mighty come with]] - [[Let the meek come with]] - [[Love your animal]] - Keep a lab journal [[Writing process lab notes 2022-10-24 Mon]] - How to find the easy next step - [[Write about the question, rather than the answer]] - [[Write about a tiny part, rather than the whole thing]] - [[Finish something to build momentum]] - [[Rubber duck]] - [[Pomodoros]] - On Style - Imagine [[The organic essay]] in the style of [[Ref. Robert Nozick 1981 - Philosophical Explanations]] - Tell stories. People like to read stories. - Ira Glass on stories - [[Make no little plans]]. [[Let the mighty come with]]. - Managing scope - [[Minimum viable paper]] - [[Save it for the thesis]] - [[Finish something to build momentum]] - [[Stop when it's going well]] - [[Go with what you got]] - Nutes and bolts process, [[Third-person level]] view - [[Retrospect with a magnifying glass]] - [[Make everything an optimization problem]] - Create [[➰ Elastic engagement loops for sustainable behavior]]s to write more - Use [[Generative AI]] - [[Trust the langauge generator]] while you [[Develop the conceptual edifice]] - [[Relish confounded writing]] - Hemingway's things - [[Iceberg model of writing]] - [[Stop when it's going well]] - [[Ref. Hemingway 1959 - The art of the short story]] - [[Ref. Hemingway edited by Philips 1984 - Ernest Hemingway on Writing]] - [[GCR process]] - [[Generation]] - [[Collate]] - [[Refinement]] - Involving other minds - Talk about it - But don't talk about it? [[Takes off whatever butterflies have on their wings]] - Ira Glass on how to get through that awkward phase when your taste outpaces your talent [[Ira Glass model of skill development]] - [[Be willing to suck at it]] - [[Throughline is the feeling]], [[Yvonne writing method]] - [[Develop your dream team]] - [[Writing team_matt]] - [[Shoshone_matt]], [[Apollo_matt]], [[Frank_mangus]], [[Frank-Squirrel]], [[Nest of squirrels_mangus]], [[Tallahassee]], [[Inner orchestrator]], [[Bullshitter]] - Do [[Shoshone_matt]] writing: [[Go with what you got]]. - [[Train your doubt to become criticism]] - Fire [[Tracer bullet]]s - [[Ready, fire, aim]] - [[See the forest and the trees]] - [[Periodically look at the forest]]: try seeing how it all fits together. Talk it out to a friend or a GPT for this. - [[Periodically look at the trees]] - [[Sampling generations]] - [[Decouple from the borg]] - [[Bullshitter]] - [[Minimize time spent on branches that aren't going to get you there]] - Three kinds of writing presentation: - Date-oriented: [[Journal section]] - Topic-oriented: [[Thematic-style writing]] - Reader experience-oriented: [[Narrative-style writing]] - The idea is that [[Journal section]] creates and easy place for thoughts to land, so that [[Value accretion problem|value can accrete]]. After a while, there's a lot of value on the page, but it's scattered about and efficiency is lost for the reader who wants to understand the content, and for the writer who wants to have new thoughts and place them into the right spot. At that point a refactoring is a good idea, converting the writing into [[Thematic-style writing]]. At any point that a presentation to the outside world is desired for some purpose, a performance of [[Narrative-style writing]] can occur. - So how does the transition happen? [[Moving between diary, thematic, and narrative-style writing]] - The [[Good enough]] archetype; aim for the [[Good enough paper]]. [[Perfectionism]] is a trap; [[Tryhard writing sucks]]; on this view it's not 'shoot for the moon so if you miss you'll land on a cloud'; it's 'shoot for the moon and you'll blow up on the launchpad'. [[Shoot for the moon and fail to launch]]; don't [[Overdo]] it. - This is the distinction between your target and your level of quality. Supercell idea. Specify it. [[Ref. Jonathan Dower (Supercell) 2016 - Quality is worth killing for]]. - [[Specify your quality bar]] - [[Animus serves Anima]], as: - The river banks hold the flowing water - The guardian outside the door handles intruders - Actually write. [[Attention is all I plead]]: [[To write well]], [[Always have a current objective]], do it daily - Find a fun [[Conceit]] ### [[MOB]] @ 2024-06-04 Tue 22.40pm From [[✅ Q7 CP 612 Healing paper (8-10 pages) due 2024-06-06]]: > [[MOB]] @ 2024-06-04 Tue 22.37pm > okay had a convo with Yv about this paper. Lemme do some notes. > > OKay so first of all, meta on writing. > Yes there's the thing about not trying to distill, just doing a performance and whatever comes comes. > But then there's this thing: when it's somethign I care about, I actually need to talk with someone about it. I need to bounce it off another brain. They will get bored, and criticize, and add stuff. And it's different from what Claude can do. And I have to do that in order to get the writing moved from my own fever dream to something with a feel. Somethign I can write about. > > I want to give that a name. Lemme do that in [[Hub. Experimental writing process techniques (list)]] Claude, let's give this one a name. the idea of....talk with someone to move the ideas from fuzzy swirl to a place where they have a feel that you can track and follow and write. Use the names I gave to things above a a guide — I want a pithy sentence not just a noun. > [!ai]+ AI > > How about this: > [[Throughline is the feeling]]: Talk it out with a trusted friend to move your ideas from a fuzzy swirl into a tangible shape you can track, follow, and write about with clarity and purpose. > This name captures the essence of what you described - that discussing your ideas with someone helps crystallize them and gives you a clearer sense of the core feeling or "throughline" that can guide your writing. It also echoes the [[Yvonne writing method]] you mentioned above. > Let me know if you'd like me to take another pass at naming this technique! No you're just repeating shit we already have. This is a new idea. The idea that you have to talk about shit with someone. Talk it through. Maybe that's the name. Talk it through. Give me 10 more ideas. I'll start - Talk it through - Catalyze concretization with a collaborator - Dialog and - [[Talk it through with a human]] [[MOB]] @ 2024-06-05 Wed 13.36pm We're going with [[Talk it through with a human]]. Claude, give me a summary of the technique to put on that page. > [!ai]+ AI > > Here's a summary of the [[Talk it through with a human]] technique for the page: > [[Talk it through with a human]]: When writing about something you care deeply about, discussing your ideas with another person can be crucial for moving from a jumbled, abstract conception to a tangible form you can put into words. > By talking it through with a trusted friend, collaborator, or even just a willing listener, your ideas begin to take on a clearer shape. The other person's reactions, questions, boredom, criticism, and contributions help to anchor your thoughts in reality. This collaborative dialog catalyzes the concretization process. > After talking it through with a human, you'll have a much better feel for the core threads and key points. You'll be able to sense the throughline of your piece. The writing will come more easily because you've already worked out many of the kinks and unknowns verbally. > The [[Talk it through with a human]] technique acknowledges that some ideas need to be bounced off other minds to evolve from fuzzy notions into concrete essays, stories, or explanations that will resonate with readers. It's a powerful tool for any writer grappling with a topic that feels important but difficult to articulate.