Writing
September 13, 2024
Episode Notes
Hey Ed, how are you doing today?
More or less, I am excited and stoked and ready for action.
You know, I was um getting ready to work this morning and I I I sat down to write and I wrote a bit and I just wasn't happy with it.
Have you ever felt like that?
Oh, about writing? I
Yeah,
I I always always always feel badly about my writing. I I've never been happy with anything I've written ever. Never.
Why is that?
I have you.
That is the million-dollar question, isn't it?
High school days, didn't like essays I had to write. University, never liked them. Worked with profs a lot.
Yep.
And and now almost 20 years of blogging, and I've never really liked any of the blogs I've done.
Well, now when it when you're talking about blogging and essays in the same breath,
you got to realize that they're totally different things. It's like apples and oranges.
Of course there are, but it's still me putting words down and making sentences and making paragraphs, and I just no matter how hard I try, I've I've never been happy with it.
Well, were you were you stoked about the topic?
Uh, in university, I mean, I was studying what I wanted to study. I was studying philosophy. I was studying math. I was studying history. And I I yeah, I I could pick the topic and I was stoked about it. But It it never came out on paper the way I wanted it to.
Okay. Okay.
How about it? Were Were you clear? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to say?
Um yeah, clarity was something we we talked about a lot with my profs. Um being specific, being clear, to the point, but that was also something that I struggled with being concise.
Sure.
It's a word that he's
concise. Edward, be more concise.
And I worked on that, but it I was never content. But
right, right. Did you ever read your articles or essays, you know, like two weeks later,
two weeks later, two months later, 20 years later, I still have them on on the PC. And I open them sometimes. I open Chihadu's university essays
and they're amazing.
I think they're just fantastic. But I open mine, I'm like, what? What? What? And I have no idea what I wrote or why I would have written what I wrote. I mean, the content is there. I like the content of what I've written. I'm happy to read about those subjects again, but the way it's written, it's just not
not smooth. I am not a writer. I want to be
okay. Okay.
But I'm not
I I'm going to tell I'm going to be devil's advocate for a minute. There's a there's a guy that I watch on YouTube.
Okay.
Okay. Doesn't matter who he is. He's a business guy and he says charisma. You you need salespeople to have charisma.
Okay. Okay. And if you tell people you you're you're talking to your salesperson and you say, "You've got no charisma. This is garbage. Get more charisma."
You've given him zero advice.
Okay.
Okay.
On the other hand,
if you tell the guy, "Hey, when people talk to you, look at them in the eye a little bit.
Nod,
give some uh verbal feedback that you're listening."
Yeah.
And now we're getting into very very distinct uh small and concrete points that we can change. Can you do that with your writing?
I don't know. So, what you're saying is that telling somebody to get more charisma is not helpful because you can't just get more charisma. It's it's non-specific advice.
Yeah. You have to break it down into all the specific points. And we got to do that for your writing. What is it that you like in writing?
Can I take my writing and make it more personable? Make it more in the eye? Make it more something? that people will understand and and feel and connect with.
You're getting there. You've got to go about two more steps.
I'll work on it. See what I can come up with in the next week. Try to write something better. Thanks, Les.
Right. Right.
Good advice, bud.
You betcha. Well, you know, it's hard.
Yep. It is. But we can only do the best we can. Keep working on it.
Keep working. That's the trick. Keep working on on it. Okay, Ed, I got to get going.
All right, thanks, Les. See you later. Take care.
More or less, I am excited and stoked and ready for action.
You know, I was um getting ready to work this morning and I I I sat down to write and I wrote a bit and I just wasn't happy with it.
Have you ever felt like that?
Oh, about writing? I
Yeah,
I I always always always feel badly about my writing. I I've never been happy with anything I've written ever. Never.
Why is that?
I have you.
That is the million-dollar question, isn't it?
High school days, didn't like essays I had to write. University, never liked them. Worked with profs a lot.
Yep.
And and now almost 20 years of blogging, and I've never really liked any of the blogs I've done.
Well, now when it when you're talking about blogging and essays in the same breath,
you got to realize that they're totally different things. It's like apples and oranges.
Of course there are, but it's still me putting words down and making sentences and making paragraphs, and I just no matter how hard I try, I've I've never been happy with it.
Well, were you were you stoked about the topic?
Uh, in university, I mean, I was studying what I wanted to study. I was studying philosophy. I was studying math. I was studying history. And I I yeah, I I could pick the topic and I was stoked about it. But It it never came out on paper the way I wanted it to.
Okay. Okay.
How about it? Were Were you clear? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to say?
Um yeah, clarity was something we we talked about a lot with my profs. Um being specific, being clear, to the point, but that was also something that I struggled with being concise.
Sure.
It's a word that he's
concise. Edward, be more concise.
And I worked on that, but it I was never content. But
right, right. Did you ever read your articles or essays, you know, like two weeks later,
two weeks later, two months later, 20 years later, I still have them on on the PC. And I open them sometimes. I open Chihadu's university essays
and they're amazing.
I think they're just fantastic. But I open mine, I'm like, what? What? What? And I have no idea what I wrote or why I would have written what I wrote. I mean, the content is there. I like the content of what I've written. I'm happy to read about those subjects again, but the way it's written, it's just not
not smooth. I am not a writer. I want to be
okay. Okay.
But I'm not
I I'm going to tell I'm going to be devil's advocate for a minute. There's a there's a guy that I watch on YouTube.
Okay.
Okay. Doesn't matter who he is. He's a business guy and he says charisma. You you need salespeople to have charisma.
Okay. Okay. And if you tell people you you're you're talking to your salesperson and you say, "You've got no charisma. This is garbage. Get more charisma."
You've given him zero advice.
Okay.
Okay.
On the other hand,
if you tell the guy, "Hey, when people talk to you, look at them in the eye a little bit.
Nod,
give some uh verbal feedback that you're listening."
Yeah.
And now we're getting into very very distinct uh small and concrete points that we can change. Can you do that with your writing?
I don't know. So, what you're saying is that telling somebody to get more charisma is not helpful because you can't just get more charisma. It's it's non-specific advice.
Yeah. You have to break it down into all the specific points. And we got to do that for your writing. What is it that you like in writing?
Can I take my writing and make it more personable? Make it more in the eye? Make it more something? that people will understand and and feel and connect with.
You're getting there. You've got to go about two more steps.
I'll work on it. See what I can come up with in the next week. Try to write something better. Thanks, Les.
Right. Right.
Good advice, bud.
You betcha. Well, you know, it's hard.
Yep. It is. But we can only do the best we can. Keep working on it.
Keep working. That's the trick. Keep working on on it. Okay, Ed, I got to get going.
All right, thanks, Les. See you later. Take care.