Don’t think to write, write to think
herbertlui.net
herbertlui.net
.;''-. The lessons I was taught about the things of my thoughts
.' | `._ is that if I write until I quit then my thinking becomes quiet.
/` ; `'. I write.
,'\| `| | I write to think.
| -'_ \ `'.__,J I write quite a lot.
| `"-.___ ,' I write almost as much as I've thought.
'-, / I write until I quit.
} __.--'L I write to get the thing out of my head.
; _,- _.-"`\ ___ Which let's my thinking go on to my next thought when I step out of bed.
`7-;" ' _,,--._ ,-'`__ `.
|/ ,'- .7'.-"--.7 | _.-' Because there's only so much room up there.
; ,' .' .' -. \/ .' In that little cramped space inside of my hair.
\ | .' / | \_)- '/ _.-'``
_,.--../ .' \_) '`_ \'` Sometimes the thing I think about has taught me a lot about thought.
'`f-'``'.`\;;' ''` '-` | And sometimes the thought I have about the thing taught me nothing at all.
\`.__. ;;;, ) /
/ /<_;;;;' `-._ _,-' But I am grateful for the lesson it bought.
| '- /;;;;;, `t'` \ I don't think I could think without writing my thoughts down.
`'-'`_.|,';;;, '._/| Which gives me a new thought:
_.-' \ |;;;;; `-._/ Do I think to write?
/ `;\ |;;;, `" Or do I write to think?
.' `'`\;;, /
' ;;;'|
.--. ;.:`\ _.--,
| `'./;' _ '_.' |
\_ ` `) /“No, no!”, Feynman objected strongly.
“They aren’t a record of my thinking process. They are my thinking process. I actually did the work on the paper.”
“Well,” Weiner said, “The work was done in your head, but the record of it is still here.”
“No, it’s not a record, not really. It’s working. You have to work on paper and this is the paper. Okay?”, Feynman explained.
From Smarter Than You Think by Clive Thompson
> The most important advice I ever received on writing was from a fellow named Bernie Avishai, a great writer/editor and friend, to whom I was complaining about how much editing my writing took. He observed that the reason that I was complaining about editing was that I probably believed that I thought in order to write. My response was “Duh, of course, I think in order to write.” Bernie explained that instead, one writes to think. The human mind can only think so much without seeing a written manifestation of its thinking. You need to write down your thinking, however primitive, in order to be able to look at it and say: “That is not quite right.” Then you will be able to figure out how to make it better. And then by looking at the resulting improvement, you will be capable of saying: “That is still not quite right.” And so on, until it is a much more sophisticated view of your thinking.
The lesson for me is that editing is a feature of the writing process, not a bug. Now, I don’t begrudge editing. I realize that it is just part of the process of helping me think. I love the process of editing! Nothing that anyone sees from me on Medium has been edited less than a dozen times. Each time, it is a slightly better expression of what is in my head.
Via: https://medium.com/creators-hub/the-management-strategist-wh...
- Blaise Pascal, et al
First wrote bad code that works, then fix what's wrong with it.
1. Make it work.
2. Make it work *right*.
3. Make it work fast.
(4. Make it work right again…)Still haven't found a good way to convince them.
Same for me on all my comments. I listen to my comments on TTS, edit, repeat ... At times I've spent 30 minutes on a single reply. It's very enjoyable to hear the end result.
Some people do X best, others do Y.
The difference between propositional and syllogistic logic is important to keep in mind when making broad arguments like that about 'how stuff works'. Especially when 'stuff' refers to brains of people with individual differences.
> The written word—the persistent word—was a prerequisite for conscious thought as we understand it. It was the trigger for a wholesale, irreversible change in the human psyche—psyche being the word favored by Socrates/Plato as they struggled to understand.
> [...]
> Spoken words also transport information, but not with the self-consciousness that writing brings. Literate people take for granted their own awareness of words, along with the array of word-related machinery: classification, reference, definition. Before literacy, there is nothing obvious about such techniques. "Try to explain to me what a tree is," Luria says, and a peasant replies, "Why should I? Everyone knows what a tree is, they don't need me telling them."
I'd say there's still quite some room left here for authoring tools, but excalidraw + vim is the best I have atm.
And vim? Yeah. Wouldn't want to live without it, though I'm not going to argue it's better than any other capable editor. It's okay to like something just because, right?
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It is a trope but it works: Write your problem to the most senior developer in an email/slack but don't press send. Then there is a probably 50% chance you will solve it, or reduce the scope of the problem to {more focuesed question} that you can ask about.
Or conversely, write it to the most junior person. Sometimes having to explain context also helps.
Most of us here have heard the story about Feynman, when he decided that if he couldn't explain a concept clearly enough for undergrads, it meant that he didn't really understand it himself.
Reminds me of the scene in Galaxy Quest (1999), when the Thermian engineer asks "Tech Sergeant Chen" about a technical problem and he leads the alien into realizing the answer himself.
Interestingly, writing code not different in that regard. Too many developers think that it's enough to understand the subject. But the hardest part is often communicating the subject to other people through code.
And yeah, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging is a thing.
If you haven't written much give it a try. Take some idea that is very clearly formed in your head and put it in paper. I guarantee you'd be surprise how many holes are in your thinking once you try to lie it down.
I never understood the statement sometimes made of rushing in and just outputting stuff without thinking and writing -- goes contrary to our engineering, informatics and scientific training I would like to argue. I do understand of course the need for experimentation/having the tires hit the road.
P.S. I find I need to write more and these comments and post helps remind me that, so I grasp the opportunity to thank all the commenters for that.
Creatively speaking (and writing is a creative endeavor, whatever the topic is), rushing in is like letting your mind breathe freely and empty it from what’s bothering it, so it can put it all out, and then allow it to focus/develop.
In writing the cost of pen/paper is marginal, so you can afford it extensively.
Related: the creativity faucet, https://twitter.com/Julian/status/1402356373648601089?s=20&t...
You're doing just fine :)
The rubber duck method works wonders for me, especially while writing. "When I show this to the head architect, he's going to rip into me here, here and.. here"
If I had gone straight to Slack I would have wasted other people's time, and cheated myself out of thinking through the problem myself.
And composing often leads to solutions even before you press Send.
https://mobile.twitter.com/b0rk/status/1546875361002135554?r...
I do also think if you were to revisit a specific note, you might find something interesting along the way—a fascinating byproduct of writing physical things down is sorting through all of the texture before and after it. https://twitter.com/HerbertLui/status/1564087803029630976
I've noticed a massive difference when note-taking on paper.
As others have mentioned in the thread, you only start to realize how little you know (or how much) about a particular subject once you start putting words to paper. It's a great way to "test yourself" and — as objectively as possible — identify gaps or holes in your knowledge.
For me the idea is always half formed in my head, it becomes clear only when I begin to write it down.
It was not a fun time.
Even though I'm a big picture type of a guy but I LOVE writing in general and one of the driving forces behind this strong feeling of appreciation for writing is that it makes you think clearer and help too with expressing and understanding your emotions esp. when delving into touchy subjects.
The only way for me to get out of it is doodling it down: write the keywords, link them, circle them around, draw the thing, depict it in 3D, flow chart it, boxes, structures, swimlanes, whatever.
It's like mansplaining it to my brain.
Works 11/10 times.
Always have a clean pad with a pen handy.
Bought a Remarkable a couple of years ago, never looked back. I've written (doodled) 1000 virtual pages since then. Its permanent place is right in front of my keyword.
I also use it during Zoom calls to take notes and remember stuff. So much better than relying on my head alone.
This is why I love my Remarkable
I agree there is almost always some value in writing. However, for many people, when writing a really long work (a novel for instance) that you want to have some cohesiveness, it can pay to sit and have a think instead of writing. Similarly, doing research (for instance going to England if you're writing in that setting) can be valuable instead of writing.
Anyway.
It may look like you need to think, but you need to write down what you are thinking. Thinking of an outline? Write down the outline. Thinking of a timeline? Write down the timeline. Thinking of the background of a character? Write it down. What do you do after you go to England? Write your experience down.
Just write.
Writing is a very separate process from editing, and the two processes need to be kept very separate; the editing is where the cohesion is developed and tightened up. Naturally, research is also a separate process.
Susan Sontag said every writer is four people: 1) The nut, the obsédé 2) The moron 3) The stylist 4) The critic
Similarly, professor Betty Flowers would define a writer as “madman,” “architect,” “carpenter,” “judge.” More here: https://herbertlui.net/the-four-inner-beings-of-a-writer/
In this case, the act of writing and putting thoughts together can represent the idiot/the moron/the nut at work (although upon reflecting, those words are unnecessarily mean and harsh). In other words, our chaotic energy gets a chance to play. More here: https://herbertlui.net/insights-from-the-idiot/
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/video/thinking-for-...
I need to think through the idea in my head. I find I can create infinitely complex worlds in my head and go down various paths, words on a board/paper/tablet just help me direct that thought process. A lot of the time I do not even need that, I just need time to think through the idea in my head. Once I am clear then writing is a breeze.
Based on articles like this I have actually tried to write before the idea was clear in my head and lets just say I have never completed an article/document/anything any time I have done that.
Am I doing something wrong?
Could you explain the idea verbally to another person? If so then you can just write down that conversation!
> lets just say I have never completed an article/document/anything any time I have done that.
I think that the point isn’t to produce writing for distribution to an audience, so you’re not supposed to be creating anything that’s “complete”.
I often times think I ever a clear idea. But when I go to write it down its more like I have just the first two bullet points. The act of fleshing out this comment is a good example. :)
Do you type on a computer or write with pen + paper?
I find that for me at least, "writing to think" has to be with pen/paper (a really good stylus + table combination can also work). It doesn't work when typing on a computer. When typing on a computer, I must have the thoughts ready as well.
But that’s only for simple cases where a person could easily predict the next few words, like business communications that stick to a cultural script, no?
Don't think to teach, teach to think.
Don't think to implement, implement to think.
(Writing is less formal than coding, so there can still be flaws, ambiguities and imprecisions resident in your revised writing, but once you turn things into code, it will turn out to be taken to another level of clarity and precision needed.)
No matter how much I plan out the process/code, once I actually start coding I think of new edge cases, issues, and often better solutions.
Analysis through synthesis. It's the only way for me.
I recommend the book Thinking on Paper: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1610908.Thinking_on_P...
Typical example; packing for a vacation. You can pack by systematically going through phases of all your vacation days and collecting items you are going to need. If you have decent memory, you could also buffer the items that you need multiple times and collect them at once afterwards.
But it is much easier to write it all down. That way you can then fetch it a way that minimizes walked distance and be able to re-check what you bring. Sometimes it strikes you when you see it written; "swimming trunks - should I bring the diving goggles as well?".
I think that writing (making a prototype, sketching...) increases surface of the problem you are in contact with. This gives you more insight and "vectors" to attack it from.Like the gigantic list of things for that vacation makes you wonder: "do I really fit it into duffel bag or should I bring out the traveling case? After all, I might be bringing back some souvenirs...".
For me, generally pen and paper for preliminary work (e.g., exploring the idea, journaling, taking notes), software and tools like Google Docs/Notion/Airtable for organization and fidelity (e.g., outlining, writing, editing, etc.). Another lens could be analog for chaotic creative work, digital for structured creative work.
In my case any design be it software, a drawing, or project or something else needs to start with a couple of rough diagrams and notes on paper. I have tried numerous times to do this electronically and it has failed every single time.
Not sure why, but there seems to be something about the fluidity of writing that allows you to get thoughts and expressions down quickly in a way that boxes and flowcharts just don't facilitate.
Most of the time I view these notes for a few days while I work or write proper documentation and after that they are left behind. I have several stacks of various notebooks lying around filled with stuff like this.
That is the main reason I’m thinking about an electronic replacement.
I decided to return mine and the entire process took nearly 2 months.
If you buy one, assume you will never get it repaired or return it and that you’ll either keep it forever or buy a new one even if you’re under warranty.
My experience, would not recommend. I’ve heard better things about Supernote.
For ‘thinking process’ specifically, I think it’s the ability to have unlimited notebooks in one device. Often while writing notes for one thing I’m inspired about something else, so I can quickly switch to that notebook and jot it down.
This eventually frees me to focus in other things, feeling that I did as much as I could with the thinking at that moment. New ideas may come eventually, but for the moment that thinking "batch" is ok.
> But to tell you the story I have to imagine you reading these words, or more commonly almost imagine myself telling you these words. As I do the writing I imagine the telling, imagine you, recruit in that imagined picture of you all the same social understanding I need in face-to-face telling, but without you here to constantly remind me of who you are and what you know and care about.
> And yet at the same time, just as in my face-to-face telling I need to hold that picture of the Tower itself, my feelings, the heat of the day, the small stall where I bought the can of drink ... maybe conflating several visits (were the cables there on my first visit or just the scaffolding?), but whether real or imagined calling that experience into my mind as I also imagine the telling of it. The visit itself is third order - the imagination in my imagined conversation and I have to hold all three experiences in my mind at once: my hands staccato playing over the computer keys, you my reader, and Pisa in its glory.
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/writing-third-order-2006...
Napoleon Hill describes a similar method, he would have meetings in his imagination with a roundtable of all his heroes and role models, and consult them any time he needed to maken a difficult decision. In this way he trained his own thinking and character to be more and more like that of people he greatly respected.
So what is the purpose of writing? It turns out that there is one, and that it has nothing to do with communication. It’s that writing clarifies thinking. [1]
RIP David.
What’s fascinating to me is once my mind is “full” of thoughts, it will start to leak and those thoughts start to externalise automatically. I will pace around like mad, sometimes for hours; talk to myself while others looked askance at me; go on some overly long google binge; and if those are not appropriate, I’ll probably doodle things somewhere.
That leakiness is probably why I like writing, even though I am not good at it. It calms me a bit and reduces my thought velocity quite substantially.
Don't get me wrong, writing is a really important part of the thinking process, but equally I find it's useful to sit down and talk things over with someone else, the act of framing my thoughts to be said, let alone responding to questions or comments, are yet more lenses to peer into the mess in my head and pull out the odd nugget I consider further.
Additionally each of these highlights different thoughts and ideas, so I don't find I can just substitute one for the other.
That's not even touching on the value of more spirited debate =)...
Talking to think is even better... Alone, with a Bluetooth headset, talk to yourself -- better if the app can skip silence --- you can now listen back and look back at your own thoughts from a detached 3rd person perspective.
I recently experimented with Google speech to text on goolge docs to chalk out some content that I went back and refined later, so that could be a happy compromise.
If you don't have time to write, you don't have time to think thoroughly.
I need to write to have a documentation for easy access. I tend to forget a lot.
I need to write to onboard others, to communicate ideas.
I like struggeling for the best wording to make it clear and short.
It also helps me to remember stuff. I have a memory like a sieve. However, if I write down a note, I seldom need to refer to that note again.
I’m moving my littlegreenviper.com account, so expect it to be messy for a day or so, as I sort out all the redirecting and SSL stuff. This is not my forte.
("It's like bringing mentally-ill, bad faith people into your house and yelling at each other"; "They aren't your friends, and it doesn't make any friends; You really want to be the 10,001 buried comment? The internet brings every dumb thing to your door, which is not how real life is supposed to work.")
...trying to write that youtube comment in a pithy, understandable way, condense and clarifies my thoughts.
Writing only helps to interrogate / expand an idea.
I had a play with this copy.ai recently, was shocked by how good it is, and worried by what it will do to our ability to think.
app.copy.ai
There's so much processing the brain does in the background, that it makes the foreground seem young and foolish.
This is great work and an excellent comment.
i.e., Thinking through putting ink on paper (or characters on screen) is more reliable and produces clearer results/expressions than thinking without.
It’s no different, and I think too few people realize that. In fact, writing for others to read is better, as it exposes your thinking to critical evaluation.
More people should write comments, tweets, posts, whatever. They’d be better off for it for these exact same reasons.
This is a guy who thinks "constructions in magical thinking" is a coherent series of words.