Write notes for yourself by default, disregarding audience

  • Ignore the listener and write notes for yourself by default

    • Evergreen Notes is,
    • Executable strategy for writing public work
    • Because it can be used as part of a
    • It is tempting to “save time” by writing notes in a publishable form.
    • It is, - Some (boring to you) ideas - Provide all the background necessary to understand the - self-censorship - Adding many modifiers - clarity
      • This may mean spending a lot of effort on
      • For example, clearer writing usually involves clearer thinking.
      • However, this is not the way to do it,
        • Significantly increase overhead and effort in writing,
        • Often enough, I feel, to create a sense of stagnation.
  • Specifically,

    • When writing notes as part of a clear preparation for writing in public,
      • This phenomenon appears as a common failure.
    • I often do [Let’s do two jobs at once.
    • I mean, I may be writing an atomic style note, but - (Evergreen notes should be atomic)
      • They try to write as if it were a section within a larger essay or work.
      • We try to write things in all the context and clear sentences necessary for outsiders to understand what we are saying.
      • Then, “I can’t write at all!” This is often the case.
      • Better yet, write something at a level where you can write something and get yourself going with it.
        • (Evergreen notebooks allow you to write sentences gradually and smoothly (“incremental writing”).
  • If it is a subject you understand well,

    • You can write notes for yourself and for your audience at the same time. Shi
    • However, when we do so, we sometimes have the illusion that we are doing so all the time.
    • To avoid such misunderstandings,
      • I write notes for myself by “default”,
      • We will “opt-in” to write clear notes for the audience.
  • Q. What are some of the bad habits you tend to fall into when writing a standing order in preparation for public writing?

  • A. The text for publication should be done as part of the first pass of the note.

  • Q. Why do you often get stuck when trying to write Evergreen Notes as publishable prose for an audience?

  • A. The extra cognitive load of thinking about the reader overwhelms me when the topic is one that I cannot extract on my own.


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