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Comment by oceanghost | Hacker News Reader

There's an industry of writers providing advice to other writers about writing. Think of it like self-help but for writing.

I used to attend some writers groups, but everyone was always looking for a method that would make writing easy, instead of just writing.

Almost nobody knew what they were talking about. Figuring out what works for you is writing.

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Presumably, the people who actually know how to "operationalize" writing, aren't writing self-help books, but rather are managing stables of prolific (if maybe schlocky!) writers.

I would love to hear writing advice from the managing editor of a publisher of pulp serial-fiction books, of the kind where the writers churn out multiple new books per year. Those books might not be the greatest thing ever written, but certainly they're better than failing to ever publish anything.

For that matter, there are series of branded tech books of various sorts that are used by companies for marketing campaigns. They're written by freelancers and are often more successful at their objectives than you would like to know.

I've always been curious how that scene works. It feels like a comfortable place for someone with broad curiosity and an ability to write. Do you have any insights?

That's the joke right? Even if you could tell me exactly what worked for you, it wouldn't work for me.

If there was a formula for success, we would all undertake it.

There is No Silver Bullet.

Hey, maybe someone should write that book.

As in software, as in writing, as in life.

Let's, co-author :)

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