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Ask HN: How to have more original thoughts to write about?

4 points by server_man3000 ↗ HN
I'm realizing that writing original thoughts that are interesting outside some technical tutorial are HARD. How do I get better? Aside from writing _more_, I'm also equally interesting in really learning how to think deeper and in a more original, reflective sort of way.

I think I can grok and build technical things all day, but I want to get better at formulating unique and interesting content for people.

Open to blogs, podcasts and mental exercises that seem focused on this goal. Also open to the obvious as I'm in a bit of bubble mentally being surrounded by tech all the time.

6 comments

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version_five
> Open to blogs, podcasts and mental exercises that seem focused on this goal.

None of that makes you think original thoughts, it tells you what to think. Get interested in something and find some long term problem to work on. There are gaps and inconsistencies everywhere.

pkoird
Don't overthink it. Just write what you want to write. So what if someone has already written on the same prior to you? It'd just be an evidence of the merits of your thoughts.
WheelsAtLarge
Hoping to get better at writing won't help. Do what professional writers do. Write every day to make it a habit. Write about anything. Look at the news and pick a subject for that day from the news. Regularly evaluate what you've written. If you can get someone to evaluate your writing, do that. Else, all colleges have writing labs. See if you can get someone there to help to you.
natecruft
I suspect you'll find that the deeper, more reflective your thinking is, the less original (but more profound) your thoughts will become.

Instead of "original," focus on "interesting content for people." Identify esoteric ideas and present them to audiences that haven't had accessible exposure to them. It might be an old idea, but it'll be novel and exciting for that audience. If you can learn to bridge silos in this manner -- ideas from one local paradigm rephrased for consumption by another -- you'll lack more for time than opportunity.

surprisetalk
I recently wrote an essay that goes into some detail about originality:

  These painters illustrate the two “sauce strategies”:

  • Vermeer: combining ingredients from multiple fields (e.g. engineering, optics, art) into new flavor profiles

  • Picasso: diving so deep into a discipline that you discover new ingredients
[0] https://taylor.town/secret-sauce

You might also be interested in "oblique strategies". The endless creative space can be overwhelming, so focusing on constraints and restrictions can make things easier.

There's plenty of interesting constraints to explore in software. Can you build a Minecraft clone in 512KB? Can you build a web framework in Forth? Can you make a modern web-app without a single if- or switch- statement? And so on.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies