On Writing

It used to be, when I wrote emails or posts, that I'd spend an hour or more on any decent-sized bit of writing. With this blog, I'm more taking the approach of just spitting out words. The main pages that I go back and give any sort of edit to are those that have somehow garnered hits. My page comparing the strategy and bridge patterns, for example, has been popular, so I went back and cleaned it up.

Usually I start with an idea, something I want to rant about, or a point I want to make. And generally that means starting with an anecdote, the one that prompted the rant in the first place. Or maybe something that gives back-story.

Usually it took me til half-way through the post before I figured out what my point was, and then I'd go back and revise the structure in order to make that point clearly. I reckon that'll happen with this post, too. I just ... rant ... until I figure out a good point to make.

I think the best (short) articles make only one point. My dad likes to write in to newspapers, and he often tries to shove in three or four or more points into every letter. The result is thin -- letters to the editor have to be short, and if you spread that space out then each point is that much weaker. Writing such letters should be an exercise in finding the best, most effective points. Throwing in snide asides also destroys any hope that anyone other than "the choir" would be willing to listen to the rest of your message.

My blog posts have been larger than such short letters, however. They're like medium-length magazine articles -- maybe long magazine articles, given the growing tendency towards shorter articles and more pictures. I'm free to make a few points.

But making one central point is still key. So maybe that's my point here: make one central point.

In what I think have been my best posts, I've gone back and put in a proper introduction and conclusion. I also think it's critical to give an outline at the start of an article. This ties in to what I think is the best way of explaining new concepts: give a broad outline, give some examples, give at least one counter-example (to help set the boundaries of the concept), and summarize at the end. The introduction and the conclusion can almost be the same material.

Public speaking is somewhat related, although there other factors come in to play. For example, I think starting with a suspenseful question or introducing a stirring story at the top of the speech is a great way of generating and keeping interest. Speeches often have captive audiences. With the written word, your audience can glean information much faster but can also leave as soon as they get bored. So should written articles be even punchier? Meh. I don't mind if people don't read my blog. I figure, if you want the information, you'll read it anyway.

Which is a crutch. I guess I shouldn't do that. That makes me want to sit and restructure this post -- but I've decided to take the approach here of not editing and using this post as a comparison point for my personal edification. I have a feeling I'll come back to this post in a month and revise it.

Until then, revel in the spaghetti.

Oh, yeah, another point I wanted to make: people that make forum posts that are filled with bad grammar, spelling mistakes, txtmsg abbv, and a lack of capitalization or punctuation are posts that I ignore. If they can't be bothered to spend a few minutes not speaking like an 8-year old, then I'm not going to spent more time than that trying to decipher their meaning.

I remember reading someone with ADD that said that they tended to make titles and subject lines that had nothing to do with the post within, knew that this confused people, and even acknowledged that he had this problem -- but decided to blame it on ADD, instead of deciding to fix it. What an ass. Knowing that you're doing something wrong, stupid, wasteful, inefficient, whatever -- that's 90% of solving the problem. If you know you have a problem but then intentionally, consciously refuse to fix it -- that makes you a bad person. Even Hitler wasn't that evil.

And with Godwin's law invoked, I'm off. See you next week.