Some thoughts on writing

Good writing gives us

efficient transmission

precision

fewer retransmissions required

Good writing requires good code (the writing) and a good protocol (e.g. books not Twitter).

The computer analogy is always slightly problematic, but I think it's sometimes useful. Writing is a tool as well as an art. It has practical utility, and can reach the Sublime. I think software shares these properties, even if it's usually more tool than art.

I'm attracted to Geminispace because I want to write more. I used to write more, and I used to be more in touch with the Sublime. I was a philosophy major with no plans, and I wanted to make more money and not do a fake capitalist salesperson song and dance, so I took some classes and became a programmer.

It's been great. The work is stimulating and the pay is good. But a decade after I wrote my first line of CSS in notepad.exe, I am realizing that I am not practicing 100% of my craft. In the pantheon of programming greats, there are a lot of great writers. Those are the ones I admire, at least. Kernigan and Ritchie, Stevens, Liskov, Ousterhout. They're all authors of widely-read books or academic papers, and these writings are perhaps their greatest contributions.

As a humble blogger and scribbler, I want to remain a lifelong student of these masters. It's therapy and meditation, and it needs to remain part of my practice.

Published 2020-07-04