help me get through my writer's block \ stacker news ~meta

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13.2k sats \ 23 comments \ @plebpoet 2 Nov 2023 meta

I hope you will lend me your ear, as i have something to say into it.

lately, i have spent a lot of time thinking about writing on stacker news. I find myself feeling tense and confused and vague about it. i want to layout the whole thing, like why i am thinking about writing on stacker news and why it feels really hard to do it. i mostly want to set it out in writing for myself because it feels like a block i need to get through. but i thought hey, at the same time, why don't i present my case to the stackers and receive the benefit of your perspective on the matter.

stacker news is an organic, emerging thing that is separate and unique from anywhere else online. it's the place where people that i want to hear from talk about the things i want to know. up to this point, my experience of writing on stacker news has taught me that i will actually be read here by thoughtful people who want to take in what i'm saying and will reach out to me to discuss their response. so isn't that amazing? that's everything i hope for as a writer. and as an added bonus, the people who know it most intimately are also my friends. so i go over this in my mind, and i think there's only upside and virtually no downside to releasing myself as a writer to boldly engage the things that occur to me to a public audience that will refine my writing over time. except that the other thing my experience has taught me is that i'm not as good as i could be at expressing my thoughts and just as quickly as people will consume my work, they will also criticize.

in other places i write, it is easier for me to take criticism. i can accept it of my more interpretive work like poems. at the same time, i haven't received a huge amount nor a consistent load of criticism on my serious pursuits. when it comes to my writing, the work that feels like what i am made to do, i have a hard time accepting that someone will find something impure in it.

this is another way to interpret the block i'm experiencing: i feel that everyone on stacker news is smarter than me and already knows everything that i know, and knew it before i knew it. what conversation could i add to? does anyone think about the things i think about? and also, what is it that i think about?? when i sit down to write an sn post, my mind is spinning up too many possibilities and they all convince me i have nothing to say. i seem unable to find a central point to speak on nor an accessible perspective to speak from.

if anything i've said here is making sense, i hope you'll let me know it. i trust you will graciously take it in.

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1671 sats \ 5 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Oh I feel you, fellow writer. So let me start off with a confession. The other day, I posted a compilation of stuff I had gathered on UTXOs. I won’t even call it a beginner’s guide because it was a clumsy attempt to articulate in words something that is very foreign to me. It generated some responses - great. Some people surfaced loopholes in my thinking - awesome. The thing is, I haven’t replied them so far because I feel inadequate. I don’t know where to start when it comes to penning my replies.

So there you go. I feel (and am) ignorant about Bitcoin matters. The way I go about it is to use my ignorance as a starting point to find out more. After all, I’m here to learn.

I think the fear we imagine is often worse than when it is manifested. We think that people may judge us when we post our imperfect ideas, but Stackers here are incredibly generous with their time (and zaps). Only when we put ourselves out there can we expect to grow as writers and individuals.

I read your post. I enjoyed reading it. I have your back. Post more. 🤗😋

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @plebpoet OP 3 Nov 2023

aw man, that's so true and kind. thank you my good writer fellow. hats off

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Us writers must stick together xP

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @NoStranger 3 Nov 2023

Working about your learning process is amazing.

You share with progress and have proper feedback on the matter, you should reply, ask them their opinion and use that as the next step of your learning and next post, you get better and, if you mention who helped you, gain loyalty from readers for being honest and open to get better.

Look people who wrote tutorials, the best ones are edited with better solutions AND credit from who shared those solutions.

60 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Sounds like a winning formula!

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @NoStranger 3 Nov 2023

That's right, you can even try with a pseudonym to check if there's interest and then push on if it works.

1422 sats \ 3 replies \ @NoStranger 2 Nov 2023

I'm not a writer, but what I can say from similar experiences is this:

If you work is either loved or hated, that's a still win, because people recognised you and the content you've made in a way or another.

If you became a writer that means you have something you want to share with the world, that's what I felt from you.

If someone criticise you, try to discussing it with them and try to get a reason from them, if you get a "it's just shit!" or similar just brush it off, it's pointless to even listen to those opinions.

As I said, I'm not a writer but an advice I can give you is to experiment and go for untouched topics and audience. Try writing content like reviews, tutorial, life lessons, children stories, one sentence stories, anything you can think of.

Also try to use any source for inspiration as you can, keep a dream journal, play a TTRPG or a journaling game, talk with any kind of people, friends from children to elders, strangers, and read and watch other things that you like, ideas are all around and you just have to find them yourself.

I hope this helps you with your writer's block!

Cheers 🤗

50 sats \ 2 replies \ @plebpoet OP 3 Nov 2023

thank you, I appreciate your advice! I had been bouncing around the idea of book reviews, so seeing it here in your message is sort of a signal. thank you for the encouragement!

60 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Just so you know, I post my book reviews on the thread <Weekend Book Recommendations> every week here. It motivates me to read more so that I can continue posting book reviews haha

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @NoStranger 3 Nov 2023

You're welcome!

Great ideas comes when you're alone, great stories are already around you, just listen to them. 🤗

631 sats \ 3 replies \ @Bitman 2 Nov 2023

You're coming from a unique viewpoint - this is your strength, not a weakness.

I came across an artist who said:

If critics say they don't like who I am, I concentrate who I am even more.

You gave several positives, including being both, 'Boldly engaging' and 'Refining' - you're right - I use SN as a poster this way too. Be fluid, sometimes your greatest tool is your ability to rewrite and prune - to boil it down to one's essence. Often time I've accidentally deleted an hours work and coming back to rewrite it, it was the best thing that could have happened.

There's lots of great stackers here who are clever, witty and creative - they're your tribe. As SN is a broad church - you'll always people liking your stuff.

I'm happily surprised by the amount of love and sats given to people opening up and giving fresh perspectives.

You've got lots of great allies out here!

Keep posting, keep refining.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Wow, I can never bear to delete an hour’s worth of work like that. I need to have something to justify my investment of time and energy haha. Why don’t just post it? I always tell myself - never let perfection be the enemy of the good enough

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bitman 3 Nov 2023

Ah, you've not picked up on a key word, my sensei friend. That word 'accidentally' [gulp]

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Alas! This hurts. But I agree with you. Somehow rewriting something has a way of distilling thoughts into the core essence of what you wish to express

310 sats \ 0 replies \ @td 2 Nov 2023

This sounds a little dystopian but try bouncing off ChatGPT to get past writers’ block. Maybe it is to do with what you mention that you can get thoughtful and considered interactions, and what I think is the clincher, without fear of being judged.

110 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 2 Nov 2023

I'm not a writer so I don't know anything about writing, but I can say something about creative work if we assume product building is creative work.

i have a hard time accepting that someone will find something impure in it

This is one of the real bosses in creative work imho. Most other phases of the game are skills training. The longest and most important part of the game is psychological. The goal of skills training is to avoid mistakes, but is that the goal of your work? We each have our own goals, but no one's goal is mistake avoidance.

i feel that everyone on stacker news is smarter than me and already knows everything that i know, and knew it before i knew it.

The most important habit of successful creative work is finding truth. This is a lie.

what conversation could i add to?

All of them. If I don't know anything about something posted and can't add to it, the next most productive thing to do is ask a thoughtful question you genuinely want the answer to.

does anyone think about the things i think about?

Yes.

what is it that i think about??

From talking to you: culture dynamics, who-am-i/who-are-we, the philosophy of work, crafts, arts, struggles, successes ... and creating fictional overlays on boring/meaningless/risky situations.

when i sit down to write an sn post, my mind is spinning up too many possibilities and they all convince me i have nothing to say.

I recommend commenting more to start. People are creating the writing prompts for you. If you have something you think is irrelevant that you'd like to try saying, pop it in the saloon and join our drunken digital disharmony.

365 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet OP 3 Nov 2023

can I tell you that this actual SN post was not meant to be an SN post originally, but instead was addressed to you. Thank you for taking the time to address my questions as I knew you would, sharp as a knife's edge. I really appreciate it. And you're right, I think commenting more would be a great way to get talking.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

I love “drunken digital disharmony” - sounds like havoc!

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @k00b 2 Nov 2023

@elvismercury help

we've almost got 'em

10.6k sats \ 3 replies \ @elvismercury 2 Nov 2023

Thanks for the tag-in, @k00b.

First, a story about me:

When I was in the middle of my PhD I was miserable. I had all these reasons why I was miserable, which were real reasons. And I thought about quitting many times.

But then I thought: the reasons I am miserable are things about me, not about the PhD stuff that sucks right now. So I can quit, and then these PhD things will stop sucking, but something else will start sucking, because that is the nature of complex systems (more on that another time; or see the book club!) but mostly it's the nature of me.

I have issues {x, y, z} and they manifest in {a, b, c}. Quitting the PhD would have been a short-term fix that solved nothing at all. Then {x, y, z} would simply have manifested in {p, q, r}. {x, y, z} is what needs to be dealt with.

Second, I saw this talk by Graham Weaver recently that made a bunch of deep points.

The one that really stuck for me was: you're going to suffer anyway, so if you suffer strategically, you can wind up doing great things. This was quite the suckerpunch, if you view it as the amount of felt suffering coming your way is constant.

I don't want to bear the cost of suffering in a stupid way and get no real upside.

Third, SN is a delicate ecosystem right now. Putting something true and earnest into it is like casting out seeds. So many things will sprout from them! Lurkers you never hear from will be subtly influenced. People who think: oh, this isn't a place for me will read your words and will adjust their beliefs a little bit. This is very real. It might be the realest thing in the world, but it's invisible, so it's easy to lose heart.

Don't lose heart.

586 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet OP 3 Nov 2023

Wow. I have a lot to think about and I'll be digesting your reply for a while, coming back to it often. thank you.

586 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 3 Nov 2023

Glad to know more about the man behind the book club. Which reminds me that I need to get to your Part 3 posting soon!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nym 23 Nov 2023

Address personal issues for long-term solutions and strategically embrace suffering for meaningful achievements.