What I Learn While Writing

“If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”

I want to be a better writer. I started a new habit on January 3 — write in public every day. The experimental habit started off well, with content on topics that I was truly interested in. But after only 2 weeks, I fell off the train, reducing my efforts to 3, then 2, and now only 1 time a week.

You might think this is OK because:

1. It takes time to compose real thoughts

2. Writing is time-consuming and time is valuable, why not simply reduce?

But I view my writing challenge in two ways:

1. I get to learn in public — creating a platform for wiser people to educate me and a resource for an equally interested audience

2. I get to practice my writing skills for future endeavors and speech practice

Without putting a measure of success on my habit, it's hard to keep myself accountable. Missing a post each week becomes a single weekly post very quickly.

So, to refocus my writing habit, I've re-read a few of my favorite essays (summarized below) and established a new restriction for focusing my writing: ~500 words; daily if possible.

The Wise Words of PG

In Write Simply, Paul Graham focuses on words and essays as a medium to convey ideas. Focusing too much on composition and vocabulary takes away from the message. In some cases, writing long, complicated sentences conceal the actual message or an underlying lack of substance. Lastly, he states that simple writing lasts longer, it connects with more people across different languages and cultures and speaks to a moment in time that many people pass through.

In Writing Briefly, Paul Graham also says that the act of writing does more than communicate ideas — it generates them. He provides some tips that I still use in my writing:

1. copy a style you like

2. write many drafts

3. edit a lot

4. use simple words and a conversational tone

5. don't try to sound like anything you're not

6. create a habit of writing by telling people you will write

7. don't get so stuck on an idea you fear to throw it away

8. ask a friend to read through complicated concepts or sections

9. start writing the moment you think of the first sentence

10. encourage digressions in footnotes

11. re-read often, even when you restart

12. don't feel compelled to stick to outlines

13. complete is better than perfect

14. publish online, build an audience, learn

I'm still learning and I encourage anyone reading these to give me feedback or challenge me on assumptions. This week, I hope to write about Future of Cities Interpretations, Soft Cities vs. Smart Cities, and Building Cities on Data.

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