Writing on writing, and what’s next.
I’ve spent some time here talking about the promise that I find in well-made books, but I haven’t talked very much about writing. Books are only as valuable as the writing that they contain, after all. Excellent design won’t save crappy text, but excellent design can help good text. And most books are going to contain a lot of text. A lot of text means a lot of writing. Good writing only comes after writing a lot of (usually) crappy stuff, like exercising weak muscles. So, enough good writing to fill an entire book is kind of a tall order – something that may not be apparent until you actually go and try to do the thing.
The internet – and blogs in particular – are good at encouraging and proliferating short-form writing. But I’m increasingly curious about how to create and perpetuate long-form writing, because while it appears that readers continue to hunger for it, writers seem less willing to write it.
It may be a question of effort; it is, after all, slightly easier to write and edit a thoughtful 140 characters than it is to write a blog post, and blog posts are easier than longer feature articles, and articles are easier than books. The effort increases (I’d argue exponentially) with the size of the output, the number of moving parts involved.
But it may also be part of the nature of the internet. Tons of people have criticized the internet for having a dumbing effect, where discourse drops in quality. I don’t agree with that; it takes a dim view on our cognitive faculties.
Still, I wonder about the logistics. The internet allows us to generate and work through ideas much faster. Have a question about something? Post it to Twitter – it’ll be answered. Want to start a really interesting conversation? Write a blog post about something that you’re passionate about. If you have the right audience, people listen to you and converse with you, and your writing works to refine your opinions and clarify alternate perspectives much faster. Which is all fantastic for short-form content, but where does that leave longer analysis?
There are sites, like Longform.org and Give Me Something to Read, that collect long writing. And a ton of it is great, but most of it is of a journalistic or political nature. I like reading it, but I’m a designer, and I want to read stuff about design, too. The best long-form articles about design are usually skills-based. They tell us about a specific technique, or they encourage us about process or logistics. Where’s the writing about why we do what we do? And, sort of related, circling the point: how can we encourage people to focus more deeply on such topics?
I’m reminded of a comment that I frequently see on Twitter, something to the effect of programmers channel their beliefs by making programs. Angry at something? Build a program to protest it. A tool doesn’t exist that does what you want? Scratch the itch. It’s constructive, useful, and it perfectly fits the web’s ethics.
What stops us from doing that as designers? Lately, there hasn’t been much long-form writing about the ethics and ideas that surround our profession. Why do we so frequently resort to link bait invective that tries to tear other designers and disciplines down? I think it’s because we lack a place for studied, considered writing that tackles the biggest issues informing our work. And I’m trying to create it – but I can’t do it without you.
I’m working on a big project that concerns thoughtful writing and considered research about design topics. I’m pretty far along in the process of making this, and I think it’s going to be great, but it concerns a scene that’s way larger than just me. The end result will focus on other people who demand better out of what we say, what we do, and how we think through problems.
And so I’m looking for folks who work in our industry, make cool things, love to write, and care a lot about the circumstances that affect them. It won’t be a huge commitment – probably no more than ten hours a week, for the next couple of months – so you can do it in addition to your day job, and it will have a definite endpoint. So if you’re intrigued, and you’d like to hear further, I’d love it if you would send me an email (nickd at nickd dot org) or contact me on Twitter.
