“On Writing #1” by Zvi

This isn’t primarily about how I write. It's about how other people write, and what advice they give on how to write, and how I react to and relate to that advice.

I’ve been collecting those notes for a while. I figured I would share.

At some point in the future, I’ll talk more about my own process – my guess is that what I do very much wouldn’t work for most people, but would be excellent for some.

Table of Contents

1. How Marc Andreessen Writes.
2. How Sarah Constantin Writes.
3. How Paul Graham Writes.
4. How Patrick McKenzie Writes.
5. How Tim Urban Writes.
6. How Visakan Veerasamy Writes.
7. How Matt Yglesias Writes.
8. How JRR Tolkien Wrote.
9. How Roon Wants Us to Write.
10. When To Write the Headline.
11. Do Not Write Self-Deprecating Descriptions of Your Posts.
[...]

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Outline:

(00:29) How Marc Andreessen Writes

(02:09) How Sarah Constantin Writes

(03:27) How Paul Graham Writes

(06:09) How Patrick McKenzie Writes

(07:02) How Tim Urban Writes

(08:33) How Visakan Veerasamy Writes

(09:42) How Matt Yglesias Writes

(10:05) How JRR Tolkien Wrote

(10:19) How Roon Wants Us to Write

(11:27) When To Write the Headline

(12:20) Do Not Write Self-Deprecating Descriptions of Your Posts

(13:09) Do Not Write a Book

(14:05) Write Like No One Else is Reading

(16:46) Letting the AI Write For You

(19:02) Being Matt Levine

(20:01) The Case for Italics

(21:59) Getting Paid

(24:39) Having Impact

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First published:
March 4th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pxYfFqd8As7kLnAom/on-writing-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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