[tbronchain]

I felt very strongly with this story - and thank you for sharing.

My mother passed away at 59. She was healthy, and thought she had decades to live. Then she got sick, and thought she had years. Few months later, we had a call on our way to the hospital, she was dead.

I didn't have the greatest relationship with my mother and the disease didn't allow us to do more than scratch the surface. She wasn't an open person but I know her mind was rich. She left with it and nobody will ever be able to get the full picture. Maybe that's what she wanted, but almost a year later I know something will still be missing inside me.

A lot of people here are entrepreneurs and I think a common goal is to leave our trace in this world, and make our temporary stay less temporary. We tend to forget that everything is temporary and always think we have time, but really, we don't.

This feeling first created within me a constant feeling of rush and stress, still present, but is evolving in a urge to focus on what is truly essential to me.

I, for some strange/personal reasons struggle to write what's in my head. My thoughts are very disorganized and always feel what's on the paper doesn't reflect the original idea. If you have felt in a similar way, I am very interested in hearing stories on how you overcame this.

I believe we all have a treasure to share, maybe not to the world, but to a few people to who we matter.

[schrijver]

Sorry to hear of your loss.

> I, for some strange/personal reasons struggle to write what's in my head.

I don’t think that’s strange at all. Most of us can use language to get by through daily live, but to put to words our own thoughts in a way that other’s can read them later is really difficult.

> If you have felt in a similar way, I am very interested in hearing stories on how you overcame this.

I recognise this. For me writing small self-contained fragments is a good way to get started. Tweets are too small. But essays are too big.

The problem with writing your own thoughts is that in your mind everything’s connected: the challenge is to cut some connections and make a bit of text that can stand on its own two feet. And then learn to enjoy the things that make text work, the rhythm, the tone, the choice of words.

Like with any creative endeavour, you need to build up a muscle to do it. I think the actual platform doesn’t matter at all. It could be a paper notebook or a blogging platform. Whatever works for you. If you can write a small 300 word text every week that’s already amazing. I would just start with the first thought that comes into your mind. And not worry about the coherence between the different texts. After a year you’ll have 50 short texts and a better intuition on how to make writing work for you. If you’re interested in writing longer pieces then, you’ll also have a better feel for which subjects lend themselves to it.

That’s how it works for me at least. Before I wrote my first book, I spent a long time blogging. It helped me to stop trying to connect all my thoughts together in a big scheme. I loved the freedom of writing small self-contained texts that didn’t need to relate exactly to the previous ones. It also helped me explore a variety of themes. I’m looking forward to take up blogging again, as I know I have a lot of topics I’m interested in and it’s only through writing with that variety that I can get a clearer focus for my next project.

> I believe we all have a treasure to share, maybe not to the world, but to a few people to who we matter.

So true. Although we might end up sharing it in other ways than written words. But I feel learning to write also helps you think and express yourself at other moments in your live.

[tbronchain]

Thank you so much, these are great advices!

[stackbutterflow]

I could have written the second half of your post. For similar reasons I feel the hurry of life. I also struggle to express my ideas clearly. That's one of the reasons I engage in online discussions, to improve my ability to share what's in my mind.

[loquor]

> I, for some strange/personal reasons struggle to write what's in my head. My thoughts are very disorganized and always feel what's on the paper doesn't reflect the original idea. If you have felt in a similar way, I am very interested in hearing stories on how you overcame this.

I logged into HN after a year to respond to this prompt. I've dealt with this too, and some things did help quite a lot.

1. Orwell wrote this about choosing words, which I found in a similarly excellent LessWrong article[1]: "What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualising you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it. When you think of something abstract you are more inclined to use words from the start, and unless you make a conscious effort to prevent it, the existing dialect will come rushing in and do the job for you, at the expense of blurring or even changing your meaning. Probably it is better to put off using words as long as possible and get one’s meaning as clear as one can through pictures and sensations."

2. It also gave me great relief to find that Edsger Dijkstra, one of the greats of Computer Science, wrote slowly in order to write elegantly and correctly: Whether written using a fountain pen or typewriter, Dijkstra’s technical reports were composed at a speed of around three words per minute(!!). “The rest of the time,” he remarked, “is taken up by thinking.”

3. Try ditching full sentences. Write phrases. Make some words in the sentences BIG FOR EMPHASIS. Do whatever styling or structuring that corresponds to the feeling in your mind. Your notes are for you, they only need to make sense for you.

4. Even if what's on the paper doesn't reflect the original idea, write it down regardless. Even if it doesn't do your original thought justice, the written version will persist into the future while the thought in your head will fade, losing much or all of its clarity. That written version will continue to be useful. The more you practice this habit of writing, the better you will get at representing your own thoughts. In time, you will be able to consistently write notes that are passably good. Keep at it. This is the most important thing.

5. The last and yes the least, I'd suggest experimenting with tools. Google Keep is garbage as a platform for creating and organizing your notes. I switched to Notion earlier this year, and it was a paradigm shift. Through Notion, I found this nice site called Excalidraw where you can draw things online. When it comes to writing on phone, I found that I only like to see my current sentence when I'm writing. So I made a solo group on Whatsapp, and write my notes there. It really makes a difference.

[1] https://www.readthesequences.com/Rationality-And-The-English...

[tbronchain]

Thank you for some valuable advices.

I just saw your reply and really appreciate you took the time to write it.