Photo by Lost in Scotland
Writing Words Vs Writing Software is a great article from Signal Vs Noise about writing, re-writing, and re-re-writing. The article argues that editing, not inspiration, produces great writing, in any language—be it English, Finnish, or PHP. Here’s a great quote from early in the article:
“Books aren’t written - they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”
-Michael Crichton
And I love this quote:
“The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn’t write.”
This article then reminded me of a podcast I heard recently on the Converstions Network where Robert Lefkowitz connects the development of written language and the development of computer languages in the context of open source software. Check it out: The Semasiology of Open Source Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
