Hacker News Reader

Comment by troutwine | Hacker News Reader

I did this once with Build Good Software[1], turning it into an essay[2]. It was... so much work. The talk was wonderful to give and while I ultimately did enjoy writing up my monologue in essay form I've never duplicated this practice because of how much work it ended up being. Back before the pandemic I'd turn around a complicated talk topic like this in roughly a month of work but this one took easily two, three months to complete because of the essay.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdO4VN1IDI0&list=PLPzMpGTwiB...

[2]: https://blog.troutwine.us/2017/02/10/build-good-software/

View on HN

If an organizer were to write the essay, would you be angry? Guess it depends on how much you trust them.

I'm the host of a conference [0] and was planning to turn last year's audience favorites into blog posts (as a way to promote the next event.)

[0] https://handmade-seattle.com

Nah, I wouldn't be angry at all, especially since conference organizers usually ask about that kind of thing. But there's also a non-trivial difference between summarizing a monologue and adapting material between mediums without losing the basic argument; in my experience conferences do summary and not adaptation.

Collaborating on an adaptation might be an interesting experience. Never have done that.

Your conference looks cool. I hope it goes well.

This was much needed feedback.

> Your conference looks cool. I hope it goes well.

Thanks. Same :)

Thanks for your comment, it's awesome to see. This essay is literally 12,000+ words (including quotes), you could make a book out of it! 3 questions:

1. Over the 2–3 months, how many hours did it take to write it? 2. Did the post reach more people than the video? (You're nearly at 1,000 views with it!) 3. Are you glad you wrote it?

1. Oh boy, it's been five years now. I really couldn't say. A few hundred, easy?

2. Couldn't tell you. I don't track that sort of thing.

3. I am. It's an argument I still find compelling and I've had nice emails about it now and again over the years.

Thank you!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com