> "But no one says you have to write everything for publication. You can put it on your website […] or Patreon or print it out and leave it on park benches!"
This reminds me of a schpiel that Margaret Atwood gives about an idea from "The Gift," by Lewis Hyde. Something like this: "Some people write to get their idea out into the world; some write to make money. It is sometimes possible, though not always easy to do both."
For me, some of the best writing I do is in an email or in a discord DM for an individual friend. I THINK best when trying to answer a thorny question FOR someone--a real person who I care about. Additionally, if it's over Discord/Real-Time chat, I get the benefit of a feedback-loop with that friend! They relay their response back to me, and I can find out if my words "hit" at the scale of 1 or 2 sentences, rather than "trying out" 6 paragraphs all at once!! (or--better--they add something new, and we can build on each-others' ideas!)
And SOMETIMES once I've worked out the thought, (and phrasing for it) it might be useful for a wider audience--I might "replay" it later! (having the benefit of knowing "it didn't sound crazy to at least ONE person!") Even Paul Graham sometimes posts essays with the explanation, "This sort or grew out of a question I was answering to a friend over email!"
Vikki, thank you. Your comment makes me think that I don't spend as much time as I'd like writing to friends. Also, maybe that's why agony aunt / advice columns are so popular? They're supposed to be responses to one particular person but aren't *really*.
> "But no one says you have to write everything for publication. You can put it on your website […] or Patreon or print it out and leave it on park benches!"
This reminds me of a schpiel that Margaret Atwood gives about an idea from "The Gift," by Lewis Hyde. Something like this: "Some people write to get their idea out into the world; some write to make money. It is sometimes possible, though not always easy to do both."
For me, some of the best writing I do is in an email or in a discord DM for an individual friend. I THINK best when trying to answer a thorny question FOR someone--a real person who I care about. Additionally, if it's over Discord/Real-Time chat, I get the benefit of a feedback-loop with that friend! They relay their response back to me, and I can find out if my words "hit" at the scale of 1 or 2 sentences, rather than "trying out" 6 paragraphs all at once!! (or--better--they add something new, and we can build on each-others' ideas!)
And SOMETIMES once I've worked out the thought, (and phrasing for it) it might be useful for a wider audience--I might "replay" it later! (having the benefit of knowing "it didn't sound crazy to at least ONE person!") Even Paul Graham sometimes posts essays with the explanation, "This sort or grew out of a question I was answering to a friend over email!"
Vikki, thank you. Your comment makes me think that I don't spend as much time as I'd like writing to friends. Also, maybe that's why agony aunt / advice columns are so popular? They're supposed to be responses to one particular person but aren't *really*.
To answer your first question, I read this whenever I see it published! I’ll read any Tania anytime!
This was all interesting, as always. I really liked those quotes from the novel: “She wanted to be stretched for the purpose of being stretched.”
Aw, that's lovely to read. You might not be representative of the wider readership, haha