Ask HN: How Do You Write?

[helloworlddd]

I realised it's faster for me to write quickly and then rewrite a corrected and refined version a second time than it is for me to take my time making corrections as I go. It made me wonder if other people have any tricks that help them write efficiently.

[MilnerRoute]

I've heard professional writers recommend your way. I think it was Stephen King who said "First I wear my writer hat" (to get something out there to work with) -- "and then I wear my editor hat."

There's even a phrase for it. Anne Lamott wrote a really good book for aspiring (fiction) writers -- and one of the chapters urged them to accept and aspire to "shitty first drafts."

https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%...

[treetalker]

In combination with your technique, I find that one or more nights of sleep between the drafts work wonders.

I also like dictating a first (or subsequent draft) into a digital voice recorder to spit ideas (or rephrasings) out; then having my computer transcribe the dictation; then automatically adjusting the text (with premade regex sequences and/or on-the-fly find and replace); then reorganizing the structure; etc. In this regard, my workflow is just a modern version of ancient rhetorical principles (the canons of rhetoric, etc.).

One of the best techniques I've found and implemented (and one of the best regexes to automatically apply to dictations) is to put every sentence on its own line in a plain text file, with blank lines between paragraphs. This makes reorganizing my thoughts / general editing much easier and faster (e.g., using keyboard shortcuts to move lines up and down in Sublime Text).

Also, for easily planning out and automatically applying regex sequences (and more!) check out TextSoap for macOS. It's easily one of my favorite apps of all time. There is also an Alfred integration.

[apothegm]

Everyone’s brains work differently. I do best writing an outline and then fleshing it out. Some people just need to go straight through start to finish. Etc.

Most people do better with a draft pass plus an editing pass than just a single draft, though. Even if your first drafts tend to be fairly polished, an editing pass rarely hurts.

[cc101]

My writing technique looks somewhat like vibe programming (that is if I understand what vibe programming is). Basically, I force myself to put down on paper the idea that is motivating me to write. It does not matter if there are major problems with the idea. I force myself to get it down on paper. Then I make it right by review and edit again and again, and again. I have probably re-read and edited this paragraph a dozen times already.

Works for me.