@paulg You should share the paragraph and explain how you discovered the idea was wrong. There's a solid lesson in there that would benefit those who also experience this challenge—like me.

@paulg Sometimes I feel like the root problem is that the words I'm working with aren't a good fit for the phenomena I'm trying to express. It's a map/territory issue.

@paulg feels like similar to changing a feature on an app that’s solving for a wrong problem in the first place. Incremental edits on an app that’s far from PMF rarely gets it any closer to it.

@paulg I think this is why reading and reflecting is a little like the ingredients and cooking, but writing is like the recipe that brings order to it and makes sure it makes sense

@paulg I find that when my writing isn’t flowing, even when it feels like writer’s block, it’s usually that I haven’t really clarified for myself what I’m actually trying to say.

@paulg I thought you were going to say you had to change the word 'tweet' to 'toot'.

@paulg The writing process is only partly about finding the right words with which to express ideas. A significant part of the process entails examining the ideas themselves and discovering hidden assumptions in them that don't bear up to scrutiny. Even when writing about my own experiences, I have sometimes discovered during fact-checking that my memories about those experiences are inaccurate.

@paulg This applies to writing code too. Awkward class/method/function names often expose bad ideas, so taking the time to get the name (and idea) right usually lead to better, cleaner and more readable code.

@paulg engineers tend to hyperfocus on fixing things before considering whether said thing is worth keeping around in the first place. Adding by removing is a great skill to hone, probably especially in writing.

@paulg Nothing like writing to improve your thinking.

@paulg I've deleted entire essays for a similar reason.

@paulg it appears we often think of the thinking part being separate from the writing part of the mind. If you have seen recent LLMs like chatgpt they sometimes have a semblance of logical reasoning, like they can can actually reason about things albeit in a limited way but still surprising. I feel that the writing parts of the brain also contribute in some way to the thinking part of the brain, that overall cognition is an emergent property of all these partial cognitions working together.

@paulg Spoken like a true writer

@paulg i bet ChatGPT could not have realized this.

@paulg i got that as a proces of creatiom tbh. Figuring things out on your own mistakes

@paulg they say naming things is one of the hardest things in software dev. Clear thoughts == Clear words.

@paulg I'm evaluating which startup Idea I should work on. And this tweet triggered the thought of writing an easy for each idea. I think the process of doing that will help determine which one to pick.

@paulg there is so much work in simple tasks, like editing a sentence or writing one that we often ignore. trying to lean into the harder and important aspects of building and learning.

@paulg how quickly do you write a first draft?

@paulg on this note would you ever consider a pair AI essay writer that you could bounce ideas off of. Say one that might know your writing style?

@paulg I'm curious. Do you think your essays have changed in some way since you left your full-time position at YC?

@paulg so much harder with products 😞

@paulg do you ever write for just your self without ever sharing what was written? I’ve always sketched when I’m testing a thought.. sort of blobs of interlinked texts.. a messy mindmap if you will. Always wondered if smarter people were able to think without writing/drawing, unlike us mere mortals

@paulg uou should blame unions for your writers block. That’s your jam.

@paulg that's what simplifying things usually achieves too. Is it the real reason VCs like shorter pitch decks? It's harder to beautify a bad idea when resources are limited.

@paulg Not trying to push it as a solution, but what are your thoughts on using ChatGPT as a method of helping you write your essays?

I’ve definitely been there! Sometimes, struggling with a paragraph is a sign that the idea itself needs rethinking. I’ve found that stepping back and reassessing the content can be just as important as perfecting the sentences. When I face similar challenges, I turn to https://www.nursingpaper.com/ for help. Their expert writers provide a fresh perspective and help refine my ideas, making the essay-writing process smoother and more effective.