I like this writing advice. I think the best general writing advice (as in advice which is not directed at an individual piece/person) is about how to approach writing, and I really like this perspective. I'm definitely going to try to incorporate some of the bits about trusting your reader and equivocating less. I've sometimes found that writing in a frame story or as an character that I have some distance from helps me be more decisive as a writer (hence the pseudonym).
I write about a smattering of things, generally focused on the humanities (literature, religion, philosophy, history), but I like to keep it a little bit weird. I'm thinking about adding some more econ-type stuff at some point but not right now.
Great post as usual. I really like this advice and take it to heart. I’ve tried to follow it myself in the past perhaps from prior things you’ve written. I know from memory in some cases I came pretty close to good success and others failed miserably (I cringed a little as I read some of this above, thinking about my prior mistakes). Thanks for the post. Here is a link to my writing:
I can tell this is excellent advice because it makes sense but is hard to do. The challenge is writing something I would like when I'm very picky & I'm not up to my own standards!
Well, for one thing I think it’s OK to be wrong sometimes. (Just admit it quickly when someone points it out!) Also, I think you want to really do a good job of explaining your level of certainty and WHY you believe something. If you do that, I think you can often add value even when you’re mostly wrong and someone disagrees with you, since you can still add some “color” to their view.
I guess I think a lot of the most interesting issue have a lot of subtlety so there’s a lot of “room”.
Hi Dynomight, you and I have exchanged some emails about N=1 experiments, reaction time measurements, etc., so I think you're already aware of my site:
Curse you for forcing me to do what I promised myself I would do more of: shameless self promotion!
I love your blog. In the spirit of being more agentic and doing the uncool / cringe thing, here is the feed. Fill in 200 words that correctly strike the balance between embarrassment at begging someone else to like you and begging some else to like you.
I think I've read every essay you've written since I first found your newsletter some years back. (Except for the NumPy one. I have never understood anything less than the NumPy one.) I've even used some of your posts in my freshman writing course ("Grug on Diet Soda and Autism" is a personal favorite).
You shouldn't subscribe to my newsletter unless you want to read poems and essays about poems, but your essay inspired me to final finish one of my own. It's about why we still write when there's such a small chance of being read: https://alexanderkaplan.substack.com/p/delusion-buys-you-the-ticket
Longtime fan ever since the ultrasonic humidifier post! I occasionally write and post stuff I make to https://sno.ws/index.xml. The most recent post was about making https://opentimes.org/, a giant (free) database of travel times for the entire United States.
I also write in my professional role at https://www.pricepoints.health/, where I basically get to dig around in a huge sandbox of cool healthcare data that no one else really has access to. Most recent post is some data detective work covering an ongoing contract dispute between an insurer and hospital system in Orange County, CA: https://www.pricepoints.health/p/bsca-hoag
Thanks! You're actually one of my favourite bloggers. I'd love to find more like you 😄 I was actually thinking about building a product that scrapes the web to find bloggers I might like.
I like this writing advice. I think the best general writing advice (as in advice which is not directed at an individual piece/person) is about how to approach writing, and I really like this perspective. I'm definitely going to try to incorporate some of the bits about trusting your reader and equivocating less. I've sometimes found that writing in a frame story or as an character that I have some distance from helps me be more decisive as a writer (hence the pseudonym).
I'll also join in on the blogroll: asmallkernel.substack.com
I write about a smattering of things, generally focused on the humanities (literature, religion, philosophy, history), but I like to keep it a little bit weird. I'm thinking about adding some more econ-type stuff at some point but not right now.
Here's a post where I riff a bit on psychology and ethics: https://asmallkernel.substack.com/p/moral-masturbation
Here's one trying to express how I feel about writing/the written word: https://asmallkernel.substack.com/p/os-talk-and-talk-and-talk
If you're still interested, here's my favorite review I've done, of Philip Roth's Operation Shylock (it's a long one, but I'm proud of it): https://asmallkernel.substack.com/p/operation-shylock-a-confession-a
you were one of my top inspirations for starting a blog, it would be an honor to feel the burn of your gaze upon my feed.
https://www.sambish.com/feed.rss
(I think this is my best post for what it's worth https://www.sambish.com/essays/aesthetics/)
Confirmed!
https://jeremyl.substack.com/p/the-bill-breaking-californias-housing?utm_source=post-banner&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
https://jeremyl.substack.com/
I am helping edit this substack on housing policy and mushroom foraging. I love the advice of the cribs system!
Confirmed!
Great post as usual. I really like this advice and take it to heart. I’ve tried to follow it myself in the past perhaps from prior things you’ve written. I know from memory in some cases I came pretty close to good success and others failed miserably (I cringed a little as I read some of this above, thinking about my prior mistakes). Thanks for the post. Here is a link to my writing:
https://www.magnitudematters.ai/
Confirmed!
I can tell this is excellent advice because it makes sense but is hard to do. The challenge is writing something I would like when I'm very picky & I'm not up to my own standards!
https://jamiefreestone.substack.com/
(I'm also cheered by the many familiar reads I see posting in these comments.)
Confirmed!
https://iyzg.substack.com/feed
a fellow weird writing and too much personality/post guy :D
Confirmed!
How do you deal with "maybe writing wrong stuff sometimes"?
I don't write for myself because I feel like it's a bit worthless and just write bullet points
I don't write for others because I'm honestly not so sure about anything, who would want to read that?
Well, for one thing I think it’s OK to be wrong sometimes. (Just admit it quickly when someone points it out!) Also, I think you want to really do a good job of explaining your level of certainty and WHY you believe something. If you do that, I think you can often add value even when you’re mostly wrong and someone disagrees with you, since you can still add some “color” to their view.
I guess I think a lot of the most interesting issue have a lot of subtlety so there’s a lot of “room”.
www.ChangingLanesNewsletter.com
Mobility and transportation and urbanism, contemporary and in the future. Automated driving and its consequences are a special subject.
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Great post!
https://basilhalperin.com/essays/feed
Confirmed!
Blog feed: https://ohmurphy.substack.com/feed
Looks like a lot of blogs being linked here that I might have to go check out.
Confirmed!
Hi Dynomight, you and I have exchanged some emails about N=1 experiments, reaction time measurements, etc., so I think you're already aware of my site:
https://www.self-experiments.org/feed/
I don't add content very often, though I'm currently working on a post about a surprising effect of metformin.
Already subscribed! (In fact I was recommending your blog to some people just today)
https://bookstaber.substack.com/feed
I love you dynomight!
Confirmed!
Curse you for forcing me to do what I promised myself I would do more of: shameless self promotion!
I love your blog. In the spirit of being more agentic and doing the uncool / cringe thing, here is the feed. Fill in 200 words that correctly strike the balance between embarrassment at begging someone else to like you and begging some else to like you.
The actual feed:
http://phoropter.substack.com/feed
I think you would like:
https://phoropter.substack.com/p/what-do-cows-and-airplanes-have-in
Confirmed!
I think I've read every essay you've written since I first found your newsletter some years back. (Except for the NumPy one. I have never understood anything less than the NumPy one.) I've even used some of your posts in my freshman writing course ("Grug on Diet Soda and Autism" is a personal favorite).
You shouldn't subscribe to my newsletter unless you want to read poems and essays about poems, but your essay inspired me to final finish one of my own. It's about why we still write when there's such a small chance of being read: https://alexanderkaplan.substack.com/p/delusion-buys-you-the-ticket
I don't generally like poetry, but confirmed anyway!
(You used grug in a class!? 🤯)
I did! In a section on persuasive essays that has slowly morphed into a section on media literacy, ha.
Longtime fan ever since the ultrasonic humidifier post! I occasionally write and post stuff I make to https://sno.ws/index.xml. The most recent post was about making https://opentimes.org/, a giant (free) database of travel times for the entire United States.
I also write in my professional role at https://www.pricepoints.health/, where I basically get to dig around in a huge sandbox of cool healthcare data that no one else really has access to. Most recent post is some data detective work covering an ongoing contract dispute between an insurer and hospital system in Orange County, CA: https://www.pricepoints.health/p/bsca-hoag
Confirmed! (And glad to hear that at least one person find my humidifier argument not totally insane.)
Thanks! You're actually one of my favourite bloggers. I'd love to find more like you 😄 I was actually thinking about building a product that scrapes the web to find bloggers I might like.
Here's mine, though it's not a serious one:
https://davidmayilian.com/blog/
Sadly, not confirmed—I can't seem to find any RSS feed.