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btrettel comments on Open Thread, Jun. 29 - Jul. 5, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: Gondolinian 29 June 2015 12:14AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 30 June 2015 03:40:42PM 3 points [-]

So there's a dilemma I've been grappling with for the past year or so; I want to start a blog, since I like writing and would like the public accountability to make me write more often. The problem is, I can't think of anything worthwhile to write about. I don't want it to turn into journal entries, but anything I could possibly want to write about has already been written by someone, somewhere on the internet. How do people... get their ideas? As cliche as that question is, it's still a puzzle I can't figure out.

Comment author: btrettel 30 June 2015 11:25:38PM *  0 points [-]

Almost all of the ideas I have stem from problems in my life and work. Ideas I have on a topic accumulate slowly, and eventually reach critical mass. At that point, I think I have enough to make a coherent post. I might suggest first getting into the habit of incubating your ideas in some system, whether a set of text files under version control like I have or Evernote or whatever works for you. You'll make a lot of connections this way that you would otherwise not make. (Unfortunately I have almost no time to turn my semi-organized outlines into posts at this point, but that's life.)

Some of my other ideas are responses to other things I've read. For books, writing a book review or summary (especially if it includes a bit more than is in the book, i.e., other things you are aware of) might be a good approach for this. Replying directly to things you've read online also is pretty easy.