I was talking with my friend Adam (not roommate Adam, another one) the other day after church and had an interesting conversation on why writing is so useful to anyone. Adam is currently writing a book and has good insight into writing as more than just a means of communication.

As we were talking, I mentioned that I usually have a number of topics/problems that I am thinking about at any one time and I always have trouble nailing down conclusions about these topics without writing down and drawing out in words/diagrams the issue I am trying to tackle.

Writing my ideas and difficulties solidifies what I know and don’t know about a particular problem and seems to psychologically free my mind. I don’t have to preserve what I know because it is all written down. My mind is free to move on to the next level of analysis of the topic, knowing that any conclusions I have already come to are safe and secure in written format.

Adam said he will start writing sometimes and just burn through a section of the book without stopping to figure out the details. It’s ok though as long as he gets down what his mind is churning out at the moment. He can always go back through and use what is already written as a mental reminder to add additional detail, direction and analysis.

This is why most writers go through a huge number of drafts before publishing any sort of work. It is also the reason why so many blog posts (including my own) are so mediocre. They don’t go through multiple iterations; they’re just brain dumps. In addition, this process is complimentary to the way our brains work and fuels innovation for any endeavor, whether it is writing a book or designing the functionality of a new software. And we all thought our high school teachers were just being mean when asking us to turn in our rough drafts.

Inspiration: Conversation with Adam

Categories: Software, writing
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Most everything I write about or think about is just a synthesis of inspiration from other sources/people/ideas. I have very few (if any) truly original ideas. I have been trying to think of a good way recently to give credit where credit is due without cluttering up my writing with all sorts of contextual information. To do this, I’ve decided to start putting a short list of inspirations after posts.

The types of things I will most likely just put links to articles, ideas, people, and places that served as inspiration. For offline inspiration, I’ll probably just figure out some way to do a shout-out to those involved in the inspiration. Kind of like a ghetto bibliography. This way I can track my sources of inspiration for my own purposes as well as give readers access to information they may find helpful, while giving a simple thank you to everything/one that inspires me.

Categories: Software, Life in General, writing
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Interesting study on what font types people would most likely use in different mediums.
http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/81/PersonalityofFonts.htm

Categories: Software, writing
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I am a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell, both his books (The Tipping Point and Blink) have set me on my heals and his articles in the New Yorker are almost always masterful. I just finished reading an interview between him and Bill Simmons and once again I am taken back by the number of profound truths he is able to express so simply. From the interview, which was done by email and further exemplifies Gladwell’s writing.

The (short) answer is that it’s really risky to work hard, because then if you fail you can no longer say that you failed because you didn’t work hard. It’s a form of self-protection….

Most of the psychological research on this is focused on why some kids don’t study for tests — which is a much more serious version of the same problem. If you get drunk the night before an exam instead of studying and you fail, then the problem is that you got drunk. If you do study and you fail, the problem is that you’re stupid — and stupid, for a student, is a death sentence. The point is that it is far more psychologically dangerous and difficult to prepare for a task than not to prepare. People think that Tiger is tougher than Mickelson because he works harder. Wrong: Tiger is tougher than Mickelson and because of that he works harder.

Everyone knows this subconsciously, but how many of us could get this out with the same strength and conciseness. One of my hopes is to write like Gladwell, in a way that is so blatantly profound, simple and to the point that readers can’t help but have A-ha moments.

Categories: Life in General, writing
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