[wip] horizontal and vertical writing.
comments welcome.
the process for writing is the opposite for reading. and that's why no one understands your writing.
Here's the best framework I've seen for converting ideas into great writing. Larry McEnerney was Director of the University of Chicago's Writing Program for 30 years and he taught a framework (video at the bottom) for learning to write to be read.
Here's is his framework:
- write to think, which produces value
- But readers do not get value from writing written for thinking
- So, readers cannot see the value in what you've written
- You must write for readers. To bridge from your readers to the value you've created.
Here's my simplified version
- Your idea is the medicine. It must be good medicine
- But your readers, do not like medicine
- You must hide the medicine in the cheese. Just enough.
writing to think (the medicine)
If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking.
- Paul Graham [write and write nots]
Ideas like all new things, do not arrive fully formed. They are gangly, unwieldy developing. When I first write an idea, I discover how little I understand it. Thus begins a non linear process of no-edit drafting, research, sharing concepts to confirm understanding, and editing to find the value sculpture in the marble of your draft.
It sucks that writing and thinking are the same thing. I wish I could think in my head, then just transcribe my thoughts. whew. that would be nice.
but no. I have to think, write, hate, rewrite, edit, write, and eventually, get something write 😄
This process, eventually, produces a fully formed idea. Something of value.
Larry McErney describes this write-to-think to produce-value as a horizontal motion:

The output of this writing is a piece of text that represents your idea: it is the medicine.
But readers, do not like medicine.
How readers read.
The text from thinking, is perfectly designed to represent your thinking. But readers are not you. They didn't start from the same place as you, and wrestle with the raw marble of your idea and see each chip of marble to reveal it.
They experience your idea from their perspective, their world, their reality.
So they read your text, perfectly written for you, and it makes no sense. They reject it, like a bitter pill.
Larry describes this as a vertical motion:

The reason, he describes, is ideas written to think are like shouting at someone to join you across a chasm. No matter how beautifully you describe your side of the chasm, they can only see the treacherous gap.
You must build a bridge to them, and help them across.
Like the bitter pill, you must wrap it in cheese.
Writing for readers
context:
Member discussion