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NancyLebovitz comments on Open Thread, June 2-15, 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I want to improve my exposition and writing skills, but whenever I think "what do I know that I can explain to people that isn't explained well elsewhere?" not much comes to mind. I think that happens because it is hard to just do a search of everything that I know. The main topics that I know are math and rationality (mostly LW epistemic rationality, but also a little instrumental and LW moral philosophy). So I ask:
What is a topic in math or rationality that you wish were explained better or explained at a different level (casual, technical, etc.) than what already exists? Like, something that you know now but wish had been explained to you better, something that you don't know but wish you did, or something that you wish you could explain to other people but don't know of any sources to send them to.
That seems like the wrong question to start with for casual writing. Some version of it might make sense for academic publishing.
Is there some math you're having fun with that you'd like to try explaining?
If you'd like a great big project, how about rationality for people of average intelligence?
Why do you think that is a wrong question? I am mostly asking because I want something interesting to write about, that I would be motivated to write.
The math that I am having fun with I don't know thoroughly enough to explain (and I am learning it from a really good piece of exposition).
The rationality one looks like fun, I will see if I can do some of it. First step, hack it into pieces so I am not working on a massive supergoal project, but a small project instead.
My guess was that it was a wrong question because it seems to stop you very early.
If having your writing be useful is a primary motivation, then maybe "what do I know well that I can explain to people which they aren't likely to have seen already?" would be better.
Another might be "what's something interesting that I know well that a good many people haven't heard of?".