from Hacker News

Writing is a single-player game

by bspear on 6/14/22, 12:47 AM with 41 comments

• by cs137 on 6/14/22, 9:44 AM

  I don't disagree with the general sentiment, but as someone who has faced literal attempts on his life for revealing unpleasant truths about powerful people and has PTSD, I find myself cautious in fully accepting the optimism. And I'm someone who had a pretty big platform in the 2010s.

  The problem with "speaking truth to power" is that the shitbags in power already know the truth (that they're shitbags, and that in a just world they would be torn down and humiliated, if not destroyed). What you do by "speaking truth" is reveal to them that you also know this. By doing so, you make yourself dangerous to them. Sometimes, this is what you want. Sometimes, it is not. It is not an easy, one-size-fits-all decision. Your enemies, but also your friends, start to see you as an instrument of war.

  Also, with regard to "algorithmic demons"... it's not "algorithms" that are the problem. It's (a) the complete lack of transparency, (b) that the algorithms are often tailored toward objectives other than content quality (which leads to gaming, hence the perceived need for opacity), and (c) that the data now available about us is invariably used against us by bad actors (and that a lack of influence / platform will also be used against us, so I don't know if there's a way to win).

  The algorithms themselves aren't so bad; what's worse is that these companies often slip shit into the algorithms that punishes people or ideas they dislike, and of course (a) this is completely unregulated, (b) it's impossible to prove, and (c) you'll often damage your reputation if you point it out (since you sound identical to a crazy person who failed organically and is lashing out at "the algorithm" with unprovable assertions).

• by antux on 6/14/22, 1:51 AM

  As someone who is written over 300 articles on my blog I can relate to the feeling of wondering if my words even matter or make difference. Feeling like they don't matter is the easiest way to quit.

  Some articles have made a splash, but only for the momentary period it was first published. I always wonder if the next generation of people will ever see it, or will it just get lost in the void.

  I've come to terms that it doesn't matter if it helps people or not. What keeps me writing is all the interesting thoughts and ideas I want to share. It's a way to express what's inside of me to the few people that want to listen.

  If you can make writing so engaging to you to where you want to play it like a video game, you've cracked the code to being a writer.

• by dzink on 6/14/22, 7:07 AM

  Everyone wants and needs to be heard. Writing is another way of achieving that - putting the message in an internet bottle and letting it float. Your audience may live in another age, past you, but your message is still alive and maybe immortal. By writing you are getting better at writing. You are also getting better at noticing things worth writing about. You are putting a (hopefully) rare perspective into the world. If you can survive the cringes of reading your own past work, and not be demotivated by the lack of feedback, you feel fortunate. Fortunate not if you make a living off of it, or if it becomes important, but if the person you actually intended the writing for ends up reading at, enjoying it, and replying back.

  If one day some AI supersedes humans and produces the most perfect writing on the planet, humans will not stop writing. Because writing is not about achieving perfection, but about feeling heard, eventually.

• by sdwr on 6/14/22, 2:57 AM

  Anyone who has seriously works, exercises, or creates, fights quitting. I'm curious how others deal with it.

  I don't find thoughts like the ones in the post very helpful. Once I start thinking about instead of just doing, I've already lost. The only thing that helps me is remembering not giving up in the past, which feels like yoko ono's ladder to yes.

• by nanomonkey on 6/14/22, 4:48 AM

  This feels like a submarine article, so I'm going to go off on a tangent, and ask, "For how long will this be true?"

  With evolving documents like wikipedia and Conflict-free Replicated Data Type (CRDTs) coming into favor, it feels like writing could be a cooperative and multi-player game. Most of the meetings I go to have an EtherPad open for all the participants to collaboratively take notes during the discussion. I'd assume that collaborative editing of documents will become more of the norm.

  Like exercising, perhaps one could show up and write in a shared document so as not to let your fellow writer's down.

• by boffinism on 6/14/22, 7:36 AM

  I'm not super happy about using 'writing' to mean 'publishing articles online with the goal of maximizing your subscriber count'.

• by _carbyau_ on 6/14/22, 2:46 AM

  Writing might be a single player game. But as soon as you hit "publish" onto a website you are a twitch streamer playing a single player game....

• by stlhood on 6/14/22, 4:18 AM

  I know this isn't quite what the author means, but: writing can also be multi-player:

  https://storium.com

  (Disclosure: this is my thing)

• by toma_caliente on 6/14/22, 3:12 AM

  I've kicked around the idea of starting a blog. It would be for me and me alone. Just a way to help myself work through some thoughts. There is always some sort of anxiety that stops me from doing it though. The idea of putting thoughts out into the world is scary. The author says my ideas can help people and I'm selfish to not share them but what if I don't want to my ideas to have a wide reach? What if I accidentally make the front page of Hacker News? God knows people here aren't any sort of kind or gracious. There is a comment in thread that sums it up, it's a single player game until you publish and are on display for everyone.

• by egypturnash on 6/14/22, 3:13 AM

  Writing is a single-player game... until you get an editor involved.

• by enviclash on 6/14/22, 10:14 AM

  Why not to assume infinite readership?