Hi Everyone!
In this email, I’m answering some questions from a reader.
Rob,
I really like what you put on this site. I’ve tried to blog myself but could use your advice on the following topics:
- Why write about something when you know that there’s bound to be someone on the internet that has written the same thing – likely better than you? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just link to that?
- How do you decide what to write about?
- How can I do what you do? Whenever I sit down to write something, I find that I want to write a treatise and I never get finished with it.
- How do I subscribe to your blog?
Best,
Dave
I’ll answer these questions one at a time.
Why write about something when you know that there’s bound to be someone on the internet that has written the same thing – likely better than you? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just link to that?
That’s a good point Dave. Here are a few reasons why I write rather than link:
- It’s not worth comparing myself to others. There’s always someone in the world who’s doing something better than me. But if I’m writing about something personal that means something to me, hopefully, I can bring something new to the conversation.
- Some people (like you) seem to be interested in what I write.
- To paraphrase Maria Popova from Brain Pickings, “I’m writing for myself. If other people want to read this that’s great. But I’m writing for me and not them.”
- It’s fun to write.
- The best way to become a better writer is to write more. Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Exchange, has some great advice on how to be a great blogger. He says “If you can demonstrate a willingness to write, and a desire to keep continually improving your writing, you will eventually be successful.”
- Having a blog becomes a personal record of your thoughts and ideas. It becomes a record of who you are – hopefully of your best self.
- Think about your readers. If you look at my first posts I had a lot of links and quoted a lot of sources. This makes it difficult for your readers who just don’t have a lot of time. Paradoxically, by writing a little more, you’re having your readers read a lot less.
- You need to be confident in yourself that you have something useful to say. But you need to have your own ideas – not just parrot the ideas of others.
How do you decide what to write about?
I don’t decide what to write about as much as it finds me. I know it sounds corny but it’s true. I have a post a few weeks ago about the process I’m using.
I keep a prioritized list of ideas. When I look at the top of that list, I find a few things that are really exciting and fun to write about. I generally say, “Wow, that’s a really fun idea I’ve put on my list.”
How can I do what you do? Whenever I sit down to write something, I find that I want to write a treatise and I never get finished with it.
Going back to my previous post about writing, I’ll pick a topic that seems pretty exciting and try to figure out how I can get it across in the shortest amount possible. That keeps the boring stuff a minimum and lets me get done with pieces faster. Then I only write about things while they are still interesting. That’s what keeps it fun.
Another way to think about this is the Feynman Method of understanding:
- Describe the topic on one sheet of paper
- Simplify it so that it can be read by a non-specialist reader
- Repeat until you have gotten it simple enough
By the way, there’s a pretty cool and short video about Feynman’s view on what it really means to understand something.
Can I get notifications of your latest posts?
Yes you can! Just go to the bottom of the right column (on a desktop) or the bottom of the page (on mobile).
Thanks for your questions!