#7 nappertime.com

To become a better writer, read as much as you can

文章洞見

原文內容目前無法安全取得，因此未產生文章摘要。

討論洞見

討論核心在於：成為好 writer 是否必須大量閱讀，以及閱讀、實作、批判性分析與 AI 使用之間的關係。多數觀點認為閱讀能建立語感、詞彙、風格、審美與對傳統的理解；但僅閱讀不足以培養寫作能力，必須透過持續寫作、deliberate practice、修訂與 feedback 來進步。部分參與者則指出，應依目標媒介閱讀，genre fiction、新聞、部落格與學術寫作的訓練需求不盡相同；也有人認為深度與選擇性閱讀比單純追求數量更重要。

共識：有限共識：閱讀與寫作實作應並行，且應以批判性、目的導向的方式進行；單靠閱讀或單靠寫作都可能不足。對於閱讀是否必須是書籍、以及閱讀與寫作何者更重要，討論存在明顯分歧。

實務建議

將閱讀與寫作安排成互補循環：閱讀時觀察結構、敘事、句法與效果，寫作後再回頭檢驗自己的選擇。
固定產出，即使先寫得很差；以 drafts、revision、feedback 和 deliberate practice 取代等待靈感或尋找捷徑。
依目標讀者與產出形式選材：小說、短篇、新聞、部落格、學術文章、source code 或其他相關作品各有不同訓練價值。
避免只追求閱讀數量；選擇多樣文本，並以批判性和深度閱讀取代無意識滑讀或反覆消費同類內容。
使用 AI 時保留部分工作由自己完成，例如手寫部分程式碼或文章、閱讀原始 code、檢查 AI 產出並自己做關鍵判斷。
把網路留言、threads 或 podcast 等短形式視為實作機會，但若目標是長篇作品，仍應補充長篇閱讀與長篇寫作訓練。

待釐清問題

對不同寫作目標而言，閱讀書籍、觀看影像與接觸其他媒介的相對學習效果究竟如何？
閱讀量、閱讀深度與寫作產出之間是否存在可觀察的最佳比例？
哪些 AI 使用方式能保留 flow-state、專業成長與獨立思考，而非僅提高短期產出？
大量閱讀造成的風格模仿何時會阻礙個人 voice，何時又能成為建立風格的必要階段？
「好寫作」應主要以語言品質、敘事效果、讀者反應，還是作者是否有重要觀點來衡量？

代表性留言

> Why be a writer if you don’t love reading? Why devote your intellectual and emotional energy to creating a book, when it’s a form you’re not invested in? Why write, when you aren’t steeped in wonder of storytelling?This is the key point, I think. I've seen the same as the author: people who want to be writers but rarely read books. And I don't get it.I recently finished a novel (now shopping around for agents, which was hard enough pre-AI but now...) and reading was integral to writing it. I know good sentences. I know the style of prose I like to read. I know how things can veer between florid and poetic and where the line is. I know how a sentence can be completely different if you read it as though it was spoken, instead of to yourself (some of mine are written to be read.)I know the things that annoy me: dropping out to put thoughts in italics; descriptions that specify instead of evoke; characters talking without it leading somewhere. (And much more.)How do I know this? From reading.And I want to tell the story. It was a story that grew, that I think will anger the right people (it's not too kind to Musk or VCs or the Russian Orthodox Church), and yet is simply an adventure, tumbling our characters from situation to situation like they fell overboard while navigating rapids. Ultimately I wrote a book I wanted to read. It turned out to be about post-apocalyptic startups and sea monsters.Someday I'll publish, I hope. And no doubt someone will read it and find style they dislike, learn from it things they don't want to do in their writing, either. But I also hope that there are moments in the book that will inspire someone else, in that they too will want to write, based on what they read.
vintagedave · HN #49407075
I hope you publish, and I hope you tell that story. And I hope people read it.There's a sobering article recently published in The Atlantic[1][2] about the end of reading and how we're in a postliterate age. We're reading more words than ever, but instead of coming from books, they're coming from digital media. We're losing that same muscle for long-form reading and deep focus that the original author talks about being so critical for writing. I think it's the same muscle that lets us think. Quoting from The Atlantic:> What’s at risk is nothing less than the ability to think for oneself. If people become overreliant on AI to write for them, they could lose the capacity to interrogate or even develop their own views. These are quintessentially human capacities.Accelerated now by generative AI, I fear that the end of reading goes hand-in-hand with the end of writing. I've totally sworn of AI for reading and writing. Maybe that makes me a Luddite, but I don't want to lose those muscles and I don't want the world to become a place where humans no longer read or write or think.[1]: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-...[2]: https://archive.ph/Rpquh
allanbreyes · HN #49408047
As the old quip goes: people don’t want to be writers, they want to have published a book.You can turn this around as well: people don’t want to read, they want to be well read.The difference is “effort and process” versus a status. People want the label, but don’t want to do the work to get there.
PaulRobinson · HN #49407699
I have an even better golden rule: to become a better writer, actually write as much as you can.A real example.I read A TON, since I was a kid (I'm close to 50 years old now). I used to write a lot. I even wrote two semi-decent novels, among other things.I haven't written much in the last 10-12 years.Now I want to start a little side project, in which I will write a letter to about one hundred people, print it and ship it physically. I have attempted to write the first one a few times, and it's very difficult. I am not used to write anymore.Write more.
simonebrunozzi · HN #49408307
Yesterday I saw this tweet on twitter: https://x.com/ksw_arman/status/2091201471773614095> 80% of personal websites only have a single blog post from two years ago where the author mentions they want to write moreI laughed when I saw it because that describes my blog that I started this year after not blogging for 15 years. It has a single post about how I want to write again to counteract all the AI that I use day to day, so stay tuned. I have rough ideas for posts I've been wanting to write for a while.But man do I have a hard time writing one of those posts. It's so open-ended. I'll start writing something and it doesn't feel right. I know I should blow through the feeling and at least get my thoughts down, but I've become more sensitive to not feeling early progress. Like a noob learning a guitar or not being able to ollie.I didn't have that problem at all back when I wrote daily.
hombre_fatal · HN #49410109
I write internet comments every day, I think i could fill a few novels just with all my internet comments. Does that count? Or are comments trash writing.
deadbabe · HN #49417386
Counterpoint: To become a better writer, write as much as you can.Reading gives you a flavor, a taste, a style, it allows you to occupy the thoughts of another human.But getting your thoughts written down? That's writing, not reading. Actually practicing the art of writing is better for your craft than reading someone else's writing.Matthias Wandel a famous woodworker on YT says it: most of his audience are watching for fun, they don't actually build projects. Would we expect a woodworker to get practically better by not woodworking, but by sampling others work? You might gain a little knowledge, but you'll never see your own limitations and where to grow if you never do it yourself.Since music comes up in this thread, it's an even better counter example. The act of practicing technique shows you the idioms of each instrument, it shows you HOW to compose for that instrument much more than listening to 100's of recordings. Chopin's genius was knowing the human hand and how it conforms to the keyboard, he knew how to compose for it better than perhaps any other, because he was practical and a virtuoso himself.When you touch and hear the instrument as you play, when you satisfy your own ear and judgment as Chick Corea says, then you're able to then better mimic others and create new fusions. Just listening to others "as much as you can" isn't going to make you a better performer or technical player at all.Save the time for doing, not using. Use the time for production, not consumption. Practice makes perfect.
WhompingWindows · HN #49407797
Both reading and writing are necessary, but writing alone is not sufficient.
throwrioawfo · HN #49407850
Reading is going to Whole Foods. Writing is living off the land.
jake_and_fatman · HN #49410026
A while ago I took under my wing so to speak the neighbor's kid who plays the clarinet at the local music school, but apparently has listened to very little music (at music school he only gets instrument lessons and some music theory.) I had him listen to a wide range of classical music, just to give him a taste, and see what interests him. I told him: a musician who doesn't listen to music is like a writer who doesn't read books. It's not only the craft, it's also the culture that those works embody, and the feeling of belonging to a tradition.
ciconia · HN #49406603
I recommend the thought-provoking short story, "Unaccompanied Sonata" by Orson Scott Card. It's a story about music craft but it's also a brilliant example of story-telling.Music and writing will change. The markets for both certainly have changed. It seems that music has proven to be more durable.
heresie-dabord · HN #49408068
Thanks, I was going to make that analogy. Somehow, you can always tell when a compositor (or a band of them) hasn't explored music enough to develop their taste; and no, I don't mean that they should make ridiculous "music" like Jacob Collier's, but it does show in other ways, like a childish focus on virtuosity and improvisation.Very similar to those "I'm making my own language with blackjack and hookers" announcements where it's obvious that the author has only known the Algol family (Python, JS, C/C++/C#/Java and maybe a bit of ML flavour through Rust or TS) without exploring the other ways of thinking (https://madhadron.com/programming/seven_ur_languages.html).
BoingBoomTschak · HN #49407428
Completely agree! I find writing deeply memetic - in that I often catch myself imitating the flow, style, word choices, punctuation and grammar of whatever reading material I'm currently immersed in.This unfortunately does not bode well for my writing ability as I read emails and Claude output all day. Recently, I've been reading a lot of building codes and compliance documents and I've develop annoying ticks like using "shall", "need not", "take no exception", overuse of passive voice, etc.My hypothesis is engineers suck at writing by default unless they do extra-curricular reading. I read a lot! But sadly it's often textbooks, journal papers, documentations, and Claude. I'm envious of great writers, but I don't have time to read Keats. I'm immersed in Stewart, Strang, and whatever Claude is feeding me next.
wcfrobert · HN #49406346
> but I don't have time to read Keats.T.R. Napper explicitly states that you do in his piece:> But I am saying this: go look at your phone, and tell me what your average screen time is per day. Two hours? Five? Seven? If so – shut up: you’ve time to read.It doesn't have to be Keats. Start by building the habit (read in bed before sleeping!) and just read whatever you enjoy. If Keats seems like a hurdle, just pick up Pratchett or Tolkien.
Freak_NL · HN #49406648
I find it really amusing that there's a sort of standardized Hacker News style that we all follow to some degree or another. It's very polite and academic.
asdfman123 · HN #49406973
I think this article is conflating the craft of writing, which is essentially literary ambition and aspiring toward literary fiction, with genre fiction which is focused on plot and story above language that is employed. Writers who aspire towards a nobel or elite critical acclaim certainly must read because their aspiration is to develop a novel and masterful command of their native language. But writers who aspire towards story, storytelling itself is an oral tradition. The author here conflates these two, citing Woolf and Nabokov as examples of voracious readers while addressing a general population of writers. It is not obvious that the genre fiction writer is losing out by reading less compared to watching tv or movies. They would still be learning about pacing, dialogue, plot mechanics, and the ability to consume more stories albeit via a different medium may be net positive EV for them. As a fun counterfactual, if Fourth Wing by Yarros was instead written as literary fiction, would it be more or less popular? My guess is, less. Which is again to emphasize that masterful craft of language vs. plotting/storytelling are distinct skills that do not face the same payoff or learning dynamics.
andersonl · HN #49407803
The most influential work of genre fiction (Lord of the Rings) is written in a literary style by a well-read author. How many people have even heard of "Fourth Wing" in comparison?
mrob · HN #49408049
Hugh Howey on becoming a writer:> Insight #4: The best writers are the best readers. There aren’t any shortcuts around this. Successful writers read. They read a lot. And the best writers read a wide variety of books. It’s impossible to stress the importance of this insight. When aspiring authors ask my advice on making it as a writer, this is my most common first response: Read.https://hughhowey.com/writing-insights-part-one-becoming-a-w...
js2 · HN #49406397
I started a podcast recently and two things are VERY in line with this post:1. If you listen to tons of podcasts, you slowly internalize what is a good vs bad interview. e.g. you learn to automatically ask leading questions, direct the guest in an arc (if that's what you want to do etc). One of my guests was a professional sports journalist and he mentioned "How did you learn to interview people so well??"2. I asked some more experienced podcasters what gear I needed, what format to use etc and they ALL said: "Just go start doing it! You will very quickly learn what works and doesn't and then just iterate from there."Given that this was also an article about writing: a few years ago I was inspired by Twitter user @visakanv to start writing Twitter threads. I'm up to 200+ [1] which surprises me as much as anyone. Similar to the above, if you read a lot of other people's work and then start writing your own, you quickly develop a style. Having a style and people respond to it is fun and then you get excited about writing more and it takes on it's own momentum.0 - https://alexpotato.com/podcast/1 - https://x.com/alexpotato/status/2012723178577985948?s=20
alexpotato · HN #49408566
Speaking of gear, there are also a lot of people who will go out and spend $440 on a SM-7b, and then use it to record somebody (1) not saying interesting (2) who doesn’t have good speaking skills (3) in a room which doesn’t sound good (4) with a preamp that doesn’t have enough clean gain to record a low-output mic like the SM-7b.It’s not like gear isn’t important but the SM-7b has become such an object of hate for me because of what it represents for podcasters. The “you will very quickly learn what works and doesn’t” is a much better starting point. (And yes, the SM-7b is great, blah blah blah. $440 is still a lot of money for most people, and it’s not $440 of ‘great’ for somebody who is starting out.)
klodolph · HN #49409533
Many hundreds of hours of reading will build your vocabulary, and tune your ear to the sound of a good sentence. But it will not make you a writer.Reading as a person wanting to become a better writer should be more conscience of what they are reading. I often finish a novel and can't even remember if it was narrated, or how. That is not careful reading.I've heard of authors who, went waiting for their muse, just copied novels they liked until they got back in the groove, and this usually helped.Practice makes practice. Deliberate practice makes...
richardatlarge · HN #49406408
I think the premise of the article is more that it would be extraordinarily difficult to become a good writer if you didn’t read much.Because from the article: > One of the key things I’ve learned is this: there’s no real blueprint.So to me it’s saying there’s a lot of different ways to cook this stew but it always requires this ingredient
left-struck · HN #49406519
Polite disagreement. To write (or feel the urge to write), you should have a point of view (unique povs are more interesting). To have a point of view, you need to engage with the thing in front of you. It can be a video that you disagree with, or agentic output you're belting into shape.The advice of "read more to write better" is incomplete IMO. I'd change it to "read/engage critically to write better". Else reading results in memetic ideas and tonalityIn fact, you'd want to read less if it means reading deeply
shamohit711 · HN #49406771
Indeed. As a young voracious reader I used to think that more reading is an unmitigated good until I came across Schopenhauer and his aphorisms. I try now to be more selective, life is short, and to engage more deeply with what I read."The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large public. A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short."“Reading is merely a surrogate for thinking for yourself; it means letting someone else direct your thoughts. Many books, moreover, serve merely to show how many ways there are of being wrong, and how far astray you yourself would go if you followed their guidance. You should read only when your own thoughts dry up, which will of course happen frequently enough even to the best heads; but to banish your own thoughts so as to take up a book is a sin against the holy ghost; it is like deserting untrammeled nature to look at a herbarium or engravings of landscapes.”
tokyoseb · HN #49406839
When you think about it, humans have never been reading as much as we do right now thanks to Internet and digitalisation.Yet the quality has gone down when you compare it to, say, 1600's greatest works.
throwa356262 · HN #49406814
To develop good taste you must try a lot of things. However it's a lot more important to actually try the thing yourself.An artist who makes art every day will run circles around one who consumes a lot of art.I read a lot, and it means that I ingest a lot of interesting ideas. I'm not sure if it made me a better writer. Writing every morning probably helps more.
nicbou · HN #49409032
Versions of "get better at [thing]" that don't involve practice are largely misled. There are rare times where you can read and gain a new skill, but largely you will have all the available skills, and you need to level them up.Most people never truly practice. They do things that resemble practice, but doesn't have the same effect.My example is from pool: many players have played pool league for 20+ years without improving their rank. They "practice" every week by playing with their friends. Nothing about pool is, in my opinion, hereditary / "natural talent"...athleticism doesn't matter at all.I became a better player than those others in a couple of months by focused, deliberate practice on the things I was worst at. Later, I practiced one skill (a draw shot) for countless hours--I was bartending in a mostly-empty bar. I became the best in town at the skill in a couple of weeks.In all my time practicing, I never saw another person practice. People want to try all the other shortcuts and tips to avoid "hard work." It sure pays off, though.
sejje · HN #49409108
I bought an Xteink X4 a few months ago and it's constantly stuck to the back of my phone. I've really picked up my reading pace since then. If I have 5 minutes, I'm in a book.I did read on my phone a bit before that, but somehow found it not compelling enough to keep up with. Maybe the LCD screen? Maybe the fact that it was a phone? Not sure.
beej71 · HN #49409812
This reminds me of an article [1] (that I think I may have even seen initially on HN) analysing what writing looks like when treated like TV (consciously or subconsciously). It's a fascinating read and it made me more mindful of interiority in my own writing.[1]: https://countercraft.substack.com/p/what-not-reading-does-to...
TofuLover · HN #49407808
This is awesome.> And I’m not even a good example of proper work ethic. I have friends who write, revise, edit, and publish a novel a month. Year after year. I have friends who have published over fifty novels in their first handful of years of writing. Both of my friends who publish a book a month make millions of dollars a year, and they are among the best writers I know when it comes to craft. I can’t put their books down. They pass like Messi.
sixtyj · HN #49406503
A lot of time I'm not very confident in what I wrote because I have a tendency to ramble and not get to the point quickly. Reading helps, but it's more about style, doesn't help me express myself more eloquently at all.Another thing is that I find myself using AI-isms in daily conversations more and more the more I use them to help me code. "Load-baaring" and "not X but Y" are phrases that I actively have to catch myself to avoid using now.
YuechenLi · HN #49406460
Your environment has a huge influence on your language, which is why the advice for anyone writing given here (read, read a lot) is not only sensible but indispensable.LLM tropes are one thing, but before those came along you could easily see how someone working in a corporate office would pick up jargon there even if they loath it. Here on HN you can observe certain phrases and words which seem to be part of what some IT professionals use — like the horridly angular orthogonal used figuratively.Reading prose written by writers who live outside of such bubbles (or who simply have a good editor in addition to their own filtering) is an antidote to that.Working on stylistic issues is a conscious self improvement thing, but you leverage your many hours of reading when you're tackling that. Reading a lot means you unconsciously get good at judging which prose works well and which grates.
Freak_NL · HN #49406622
Rambling is OK as long as you can treat the result as a draft that you can refine. I've often written emails that were three paragraphs in the first draft and 5 lines after deliberate revision. And the shorter revision was always much better.
gmueckl · HN #49406574
Reading this article is like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, I have to work with generative AI on daily basis and I have this terrible feeling of losing my ability to read and write - and think.The claude generated text has something that I cannot clearly pin-point, that my brain detects somehow and immediately makes me feel bored. I can't keep up with the reading of a long ai generated answer ("reasoning") - it really hurts.The same goes for writing - I always wanted to write both text and code.The whole experience of getting into "the flow" was rewarding - endless nights (when I was younger) spent in that state, to reach something, learn something.Now instead, the act of delegating thinking, writing, coding, and reading mainly AI generated text, makes me feel disoriented and more and more bored.
me2too · HN #49408705
Woah. Reading this blog post was like being transported 5 years back prior to the existence of AI. It reeks of pure humanity.
aetherspawn · HN #49406133
agree, despite the em dashes.
ngruhn · HN #49406298
So that means that programmers should read/study the code and architecture of other programmers?
arnejenssen · HN #49406965
Of course! I don't see how anyone could expect to excel at a craft without also studying the work of others.This is where AI concerns me for people who are juniors in their field (software or otherwise). You get quick answers which don't help with learning, and it's very easy to never read the code. It's like a very tempting drug that stunts growth but feels like progress.
bluehatbrit · HN #49407071
Obviously yes, how can you design good systems without studying the systems created by others?
cweld510 · HN #49409155
“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”- William Faulkner
jihadjihad · HN #49408140
I had an odd sense when reading that article… the sense that we’re in truly bizarre times, that such obvious advice needs to be given at all.That people in general don’t read, I get. But if you don’t read, why would you want to write? Baffling!
randomImmigrant · HN #49406388
I wonder if for many people today, it's not so much the art form of writing they are interested in, but rather having their thoughts and opinions validated by an audience. I mean, we live in a world where technology is constantly asking us to share our voice with the world at every opportunity. It's not asking us to phrase our thoughts well or to find meaningful things to share, but to get something out there quickly that captures people's attentions and to bask in it.
allenu · HN #49407250
It’s the same phenomenon, but I got similar strnge feeling when reading an article from the atlantic about film students who are incapable of sitting through films[0]. Why would you study to make art in a form you don’t even enjoy yourself?[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/college-students-m...
plastic3169 · HN #49406467
I guess what you mean to say is ”read as much BOOKS as you can”. God knows I am reading all day long, but it’s usually news papers, blogs, weapons grade sloptonium from a colleague, etc.
estetlinus · HN #49407284
I would say that you should consume type of material you aim to produce. So if you are writing for news paper maybe follow a few and check historic examples deemed good. Same goes for blogs. And really academic publications are very much this.
Ekaros · HN #49407533
I think reading short stories is a great way to develop both writing and storytelling skills. A SS compresses the storyline and character development into a more palatable and succinct morsel than can a full-sized book. And the brevity of SSs should make them more digestible.Classic literature was written in an era when readers had more patience and fewer distractions than today. But classic short stories should offer the best of those, IMO, better-written times: more thoughtful exposition in fewer words.
randcraw · HN #49408474
One interesting thing I've just come to notice is that ever since I started using AI agents, ive not had a single moment of 'flow-state' whereas I used to semi-frequently have such experiences prior.I feel like some parallels can be drawn between the reading and coding brain in this regard.
hrideshmg · HN #49409479
I take breaks from AI agents and write a percentage of commits purely by hand, partly to keep experiencing the flow state, partly because I think I need the expertise.
klodolph · HN #49409554
In addition to this, I think one gets even more from reading after having tried to write. There's a unique feedback loop that starts happening once you start creating.
leecommamichael · HN #49406358
Sometimes I wonder if too much looking behind the curtain might affect you. Like seeing how the restaurant prepares your food. Or seeing that much of apple's look and feel is rounded corners.
m463 · HN #49406380
Nowadays I mostly listen to e-books when I am doing house chores or driving or doing some other things that require the eyes but not the entire brain. Not sure if it counts as reading. If it does, then I read about 10-15 books a year. I haven't read a long-form book completely with my eyes for a long time.
wwind123 · HN #49406640
This used to be true because most published books were well written. I don't think that's true anymore. Too much noise and too little signal so to speak.I feel a growing trend where books read like the author's main inspiration is TV shows, down to villains surprising the main character by jumping out from "behind the camera" and dialogue that reads like the book has no ability to convey thoughts and emotions except by having the characters explain them to another character.Maybe I've just gotten more picky with age but I have a hard time finding anything readable lately. Sure there's the literary prize winners, but they tend to be dull and slow - I want solid pageturner pulp! :)
Kon5ole · HN #49407696
There are more written books that a regular person can read in their entire life. Even if what you say is true, no need to only read modern books.
amunozo · HN #49407941
A sense of which writing is better is the very thing that reading lots of books helps you discover.And I don't think only reading "quality" literature is necessary, you just need to not mindlessly read the same thing over and over again.I've found my enjoyment of all media improved massively when I stopped trying to find what made it bad and started to look for what made it good.Though some techniques start to feel cheap, like how fast food makes everything palatable by being crunchy salt and sweet.
shiandow · HN #49408428
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me [write]."Yes, I added the editorial insertion because I'm sure that's what he meant.
biscuits1 · HN #49408432
There are many more people who write, than who love words enough, to consume and generate great writing.This is also why projections of AI's impact are overrated in some domains. Everyone can 'write' an app now. Relatively few will actually make one.
zahirbmirza · HN #49407318
I thought reading is not going to do that much, as it only improves your recognition, not your ability to actively use the vocabulary.At least this is what I came to find, as I have some issues currently with "blanking" more than I would like.
johnisgood · HN #49406981
I believe it is similar ot other crafts. You won't be a better engineer by only looking at source code. But it does help when you are analyzing a codebase to learn something applicable to your situation. So, it is not "just reading" I believe, but a subconcious act of analyzing.
vuvko · HN #49407015
Like with any advise that ought to get you expertise or ability, if you're not goal oriented, actively gathering and acting on feedback and hyper focused on improving, you will only waste time.
spiderfarmer · HN #49407061
Reminds me of bill gates, who said to learn to write code, you have to read as much source code as you can.[also, I can't also think about people who I know who talk talk talk (to hear the sound of their own voice?) and never listen... is this part of what he's implying?]
m463 · HN #49406372
I see so many solo indie game developers who don't really play games and almost all of them fail to make their game actually fun. I'm not at all surprised to learn the same concept applies to writing.I think the most intuitive case might be music. We would all be skeptical if someone said they were going to compose a soundtrack but hadn't really listened to many soundtracks or much music at all.
cure_42 · HN #49408615
To be a good writer - have something to say. To have something to say - live an interesting life. It’s not easy to live an interesting life by sitting in a chair and reading a book.
ChrisGreenHeur · HN #49407438
To be a good writer you must also love writing. But writing isn't naturally lovable.You rarely hear much from those guys who don't love writing, because they didn't write.
analog8374 · HN #49410025
Wow, started really well, and then devolved into a mix of rambling, shaming people's usage of time, romanticizing reading, AI, social networks, and no true scotsman. Classy.
wiseowise · HN #49407238
Reading and writing are related but very different skills. I think reading too much can be detrimental to writing.
oceansky · HN #49409189
Just like how you need two legs to walk, you should regularly switch between reading and writing.You can't learn what to look for in the writing of others until you write something yourself. And you can't find your own voice until you've tried imitating someone else's style.
orthoxerox · HN #49409453
To become a writer, and publisher of work much like that of the blogger:https://nappertime.com/my-books-where-to-start-reading/Follow it. No doubt sincerely meant.
everybodyknows · HN #49409291
On the subject, I cannot recommend enough Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott & On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King. Two exceptional books.
fuidani · HN #49406631
I regular question experts. I literally walk up to them and ask how they get that go and every single time the "trick" has been an approximation of "I do this a lot" and by a lot they mean more than everybody else.If you didn't watch Kung Fu Panda then it is worth it to learn what the "secret" is all about.TL; DR: yes and it works for everything else too. Just do the thing!
utopiah · HN #49410050
In my experience, the thing that makes your better at something is actually _doing_ it, badly at first and then gradually improving by iteration.But for writing, I usually see the advice that says you should read a lot instead of write a lot. What gives?
psadri · HN #49409034
You shouldn't read a lot instead of writing a lot, you should be doing both, in the same way a musician should practice their instrument and listen to a lot of music. Or, for a more HN-appropriate context, imagine trying to contribute to a FOSS project without reading any of the existing code or knowing the style guides. Your contributions could be fine, but they'll never be good.
presbyterian · HN #49409219
Will reading a lot eventually makes you want to write? I haven't found that yet.
ymc9 · HN #49409068
Funny how this advice is totally innocuous and accepted universally, but the idea that LLMs are trained on the exact same material causes half of us to scream about art theft and plagiarism and a legal right to royalties.
elif · HN #49408242
“Quantity has a quality in itself”. How many books can you read in your life, and how faithfully can you transcribe them, vs. just retaining a fraction of them? What about LLMs?
harperlee · HN #49408273
I feel that people today are already overwhelmed by walls of text. Books are a completely different cognitive load for the brain. A book is a gym workout. Social media and news feeds are lazy reading.I try to read more myself, but specifically books.
InsiderCrush · HN #49407160
Agreed. And reading is not an unalloyed good. We squat over our fetish and acquire a bit of a hunch.200 years of pro-reading propaganda may have bent our opinion. Once upon a time reading was considered a morbid activity. And it kinda is.
analog8374 · HN #49410096