Answering @blewitt: Spontaneous or Engineered

in #writing5 years ago (edited)

Last night I wrote a rambling piece as I tend to do from time to time and got a question about writing. As they say, there are no stupid questions, which isn't strictly true but at least, this one wasn't.

Probably a completely dumb question (I feel like all those I ask you are) but what makes you decide to write a piece? Your writing are all so detailed and varied yet it seems like you know what the hell you are talking about in each and every one? Do you plan these out or does it just come naturally and spontaneous? - @blewitt

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I sit down and freewrite nearly every piece and generally post upon completion. This works better for my schedule which is erratic at best and since I am not much of a planner, the only way I will get anything done. Occasionally I have to ask my wife for time to write our finish some pieces because what starts off as a 'quick piece' can expand rapidly and spill over the time I have available.

When it comes to Steem content (which is often at the moment) the decision is based on what brings value to the audience. I have a lot of smaller accounts that follow and support me and with the complexity of Steem, sometimes it is good to present certain views. It is also useful to get view from the past and possible futures also.

I write about the future a lot and essentially aim to predict what circumstances could evolve into. Even though the future is always unknown, what I like about the blockchain is that it is preserved and I can look back at my track record, as can others. This is going to be an important part of information and personal credibility in the future, I think.

You see? I give my views of the world as I see it and perhaps, maybe, possibly, potentially options that people could use to develop their own thoughts and actions from. We are of course all responsible for who we choose to listen to and the information we act upon and I am nobody's guru. If you benefit or suffer, both sides are yours to own.

Having said that, I don't go out of my way to harm anyone and I don't put forward views that aim to do this, at least for the long-term view of things. I try to look longer than the immediate situation for example with resource credits and the challenges of small users. The situation is temporary but essentially had to happen to get us to a point where new users can on-board with ease and freely. People want to rush, I am generally patient.

Patience, responsibility of the individual and community thinking are common threads through my work, and due to the nature of the system here, are required for most users to not only survive, but thrive. If the content I put forward doesn't have change for the better value for at least one person including myself, it isn't worth putting out there in my opinion and not worth consuming.

However, I also think that when I support people I don't have to benefit from their work directly. I can support people who support other people and the value to me is a stronger future community. Often stake only supports what benefits them and forget that there are people who need to be supported as they provide for audiences that haven't yet learned what they have already.

This is something I see as a problem in the world, we spend a great deal of resources on entertainment but those doing things that actually do good for the world are forced to beg for support. We expect 'good' to be done for free and wonder why there aren't many takers in a world that values material. It would be interesting to change the paradigm and instead pay very well for beneficial social services and see what happens. Teachers and researchers might get a salary bump while athletes and actors take a cut.

I still haven't really answered @blewitt's question though have I? This is the way I write though, there is a spark of inspiration, a tiny thought, image or situation and it becomes a mental catalyst that fires outward in random directions. I never really know where it will take me but each is an exploration of myself as a creator and human.

The reason I sound like I know what I am talking about is likely because of this, in the moment I do. After all, these are my thoughts and if I can't back my own thoughts in the moment, there is something wrong perhaps. Also, I have a relatively large and varied pool of experience to short my thoughts and a personality that tends to observe behaviours and search for patterns and connections that might not be so obvious to everyone.

It is all a lot of fun to write and explore our world and even if we make mistakes or hold incorrect information, the expression of it to the audience can open discussions that can close gaps and improve behaviours. When it comes to ideas, I take the better out than in approach as it gives us the chance to improve before acting upon them or making them habits.

The other thing I do when I write is try to be honest in my views. People think honesty needs to be abrasive but I disagree and in my experience, abrasive people are often just attention seekers looking for validation. This is becoming more true in a world of polarization and personal branding.

Being an asshole isn't a positive trait if it offers nothing that changes the community or conditions for the better and is often these days masturbatory in nature. The "I tell it how it is" idea is BS as at best it is, "I tell it as I understand it". That is okay though, no one need listen and more importantly, react to anyone else.

I am not a writer though and I do not think about the presentation of my content for the audience enough, I don't engineer it or polish it. Often, I don't even read it back after 2 or 3 hours of writing. What I think holds value I my words for others is my own experience and perspective. We often look at an article quality through arbitrary lenses but for me to write what I do has taken me a lifetime to gather, learn, develop and understand.

It doesn't mean it is right or complete of course which is why I push for responsibility of the individual to take all information as questionable and find out for themselves, cross-reference, fill gaps and make it their own.

The stories we hold direct our actions but stories are never the thing, they need to evolve l to continually negotiate with an ever-changing world. We can share our ideas and compound their value by developing common narratives we can all use as loose models to walk forward together and overcome challenge together.

I still didn't answer your questions @Blewitt but hopefully you have an understanding of the process.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
(posted from phone)

I started writing this while singing my daughter to sleep for her nap and then as she sleeps. I don't have the luxury of being able to set aside blocks of time to get work done at the moment and I think this is also part of the process.

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I was wondering about the same thing, so I'm glad @blewitt asked you =). I think it takes talent to write so many interesting thoughts in a very short amount of time. I also think they are very well written....thumbs up to you my friend =)

There is some kind of snowball effect that takes place with it, the more I write, the more I want to write :) It is fun too.

Well you write really well. And looking at where you live, English is probably not your native language? That's incredible!!

English is probably not your native language? That's incredible!!

Unfortunately I can't make that claim but I am Australian so English is almost a second language. ;)

Hehe, fair enough :)

Since when i have been a little child i have always love writing. Sometimes i love writing stories a lot back then in the school. We have our group also then in the school. So sometimes we will just sit together to form a stories and sometimes we write jokes to makes people laugh. But as i begin to grow more and more i begin to discover that writing is beyond that so i divert to writing motivational and inspirational article. So sometimes i will just pick up my phone, weite out some motivational post or should i say inspirational quotes and i will post it on my steemit account for people to read and learn from it. It has always been fun for me writing and i never get tired of it easily becuase the inspirational always comes continously beyond my imagination

I find writing is cathartic by nature and it doesn't really matter what I write about which makes me think it is more in the process than the content.

Last tag is Hewitt instead of blewitt. Ha ha, I beat checky. Nothing like beating the bott ;)

Posted using Partiko Android

Lol, thanks. Hewitt is Blewitt's troll alt.

I have been following and reading your posts for sometime now. The reason why its easier for you to write is because you just put out your thought and you dont research. You dont even have a niche. You dont include details or numbering in your work. You just write your opinion and you get nice comments because you are a whale. If you write about crypto, science, news, etc you will find it difficult just like everyone. You post poetry but not regularly because it takes time to come up with poems, rhymes, dictions etc. You still didnt answer the question because there is no science to how you write or what you choose to write. You just write and make it long enough.

I think you are commenting from a place of jealousy. Why @tarazkp has so much Steem Power is because he has earned it by writing valuable, interesting and though provoking pieces for a long long time.

Well, technically I pay for my delegation too (which I have to give up because it has run at a loss for 6 months) :D

Well yeah but majority of your earnings comes from you doing the actual work of writing and interacting with the community, right?

yeah, all of my earnings do :) I pay for part of the dele and recently had some donated to me which has been great. I have been doing this a long time already, this isn't the first of these comments :)

Comes with the territory.

A little unfair, he uses my numbers from time to time. Whale? We wish!

I even use mine from time to time but they are more basic. This comment is because of some misinformed ones made the other day.

You do.

+1 to the misinformed comment list then.

That is an interesting view but not very well researched considering the claims. Have a scroll.

But I think he did kinda answer the question @paramimd. At least in my mind. Having had the pleasure of meeting @tarazkp and being able to spend a pretty decent chunk of time with him last week, we ran through a pretty wide variety of conversations. We discussed Steem and this platform all the way to Asian porn and the dreaded 13th story...what lies above?!? We may never know. Lol.

But we spoke about all sorts of things. Steem. Life. Children. Photography. Food. Illness. I probably knew the answer already having met him as he is just one of those lucky fellas who can discuss mostly anything. That is a rare talent to possess these days and I guess my question initially was not how he is knowledgeable on the subject he’s writing about but if there was a plan to discuss it...or did it just pop into his head and he went “yeah...I’ll discuss that right now”.

Go look around on this blockchain and see the drivel that most people pump out consistently. I find myself learning or taking something from his writings pretty much daily which is pretty badass and more than I can say for a ton of other folks.

It would be interesting to change the paradigm and instead pay very well for beneficial social services and see what happens. Teachers and researchers might get a salary bump while athletes and actors take a cut.

Would this be fair then, to say that your political perspectives are somewhat left of center?

Or is that an incorrect bias, on my part?

I really don't pay attention to political labelling as I find it quite ridiculous. Label me as you choose, it doesn't change me.

It wasn't an attempt to label you as anything.
Left/ right paradigm is the easiest - if blunt tool, I agree.

Ok, no politics - Is your perspective of a societies structures , one more of a social responsibility for others, via taxes and government, or of a less government structures, with a more autonomous philosophy?

you haven't been reading the 2000 posts I have written about personal responsibility....

That's sounds like an avoidance answer, mate.

( I've ready hundreds of your posts).

People think honesty needs to be abrasive but I disagree and in my experience,

I wasn't being abrasive, it was a simple question (I thought) .
...Your answer appeared less than honest if anything... ( or it came across as that).

Are you, by any chance - playing the 'steemit politics game?' and by avoiding the question, enables a politically neutral position, thus 'Staying on the fence to cover all bases?', kinda thing?

...I'm really crap at playing politics...
(as you may have noticed!...lol)

I really don't care for politics, left, right, center. I don't care about polarized views or boxes. I don't care about what you think or anyone else thinks about me. It doesn't matter to me. There have been several times I have said the same in many ways as you keep trying to draw some circle around me. The circle I am in is going to change as the environment changes and the needs of me, my family, the community, the world change. you can keep picking sides all you want and diminishing the views of all others but one day, the cure you seek will be out of your reach and there will be no bridge available.

I prefer to wander through this world and building relationships with humans.

ok, enough said.

I'm surprised... I had assumed there would be some degree of planning in there!

Well, however you do it, it works very well!

Posted using Partiko Android

My dad was an artist, give him a colour and he could match it by mixing paints together and predict that it would dry to the correct tone.

I have spent the last 15 years training business professionals across many industries. The planning is in experience I guess. A footballer doesn't train during the game, 95 percent of their career and nearly all of their skill is gathered while the fans aren't watching.

This is why I enjoy reading your posts so often as it encourages me what is possible when we take our passion to action and you are truly gifted in that aspect. This is what we need more of as well as sharing thoughts is what can create movements despite not everyone agreeing on what or how. Incredible that you can start with a thought and develop it into what you do!

This is what we need more of as well as sharing thoughts is what can create movements despite not everyone agreeing on what or how.

This is essentially what a decentralized community has to do and the better we build the process and thinking to do this, the faster we can move. currently things crawl because for the most part, we are still acting on the learned programming of authority. We can do much better and move much faster than we are but the de-programming is a process.

I'm glad @blewitt asked that (or Hewitt, whoever this guy is, he's great) because your posts are always very well-thought out, it seems. I mean, sometimes they sound conversational, but most of the time, it's a very smart conversation, at best, no blunders or repetitions.

I keep them conversational (for the most part) because it is the way I myself both learn and visualise things. If I write it like a text book, I wouldn't want to read it either :D

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