March 2005(In the processof answering an email, I accidentally wrote a tiny essay about writing.I usually spend weeks on an essay. This one took 67 minutes—23of writing, and 44 of rewriting.)I think it's far more important to write well than most peoplerealize. Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them.If you're bad at writing and don't like to do it, you'll miss outon most of the ideas writing would have generated.As for how to write well, here's the short version: Write a bad version1 as fast as you can; rewrite it over and over; cut out everythingunnecessary; write in a conversational tone; develop a nose forbad writing, so you can see and fix it in yours; imitate writersyou like; if you can't get started, tell someone what you plan towrite about, then write down what you said; expect80% of the ideas in an essay to happen after you start writing it,and 50% of those you start with to be wrong; be confident enoughto cut; have friends you trust read your stuff and tell you whichbits are confusing or drag; don't (always) make detailed outlines;mull ideas over for a few days beforewriting; carry a small notebook or scrap paper with you; start writing when you think of the first sentence; if a deadlineforces you to start before that, just say the most important sentencefirst; write about stuff you like; don't try to sound impressive; don't hesitate to change the topic on the fly;use footnotes to contain digressions; use anaphora to knitsentences together; read your essays out loud to see (a) where you stumbleover awkward phrases and (b) which bits are boring (theparagraphs you dread reading); try to tell thereader something new and useful; work in fairly big quanta of time;when you restart, begin by rereading what you have so far; when youfinish, leave yourself something easy to start with; accumulatenotes for topics you plan to cover at the bottom of the file; don'tfeel obliged to cover any of them; write for a reader who won'tread the essay as carefully as you do, just as pop songs aredesigned to sound ok on crappy car radios; if you say anything mistaken, fix it immediately;ask friends which sentence you'll regret most; go back and tonedown harsh remarks; publish stuff online, becausean audience makes you write more, and thus generate moreideas; print out drafts instead of just looking at themon the screen; use simple, germanic words; learn to distinguishsurprises from digressions; learn to recognize the approach of anending, and when one appears, grab it.
