Advice to aspiring writers

Write whatever you want. But something short is better as it gives you a view of all the writing process, speeds up your learning and demotivates less when you write something bad.

Do finish your work and expose it to criticism as the final step.

Remember that information about bad events is much more likely to reach us. Expect bad news.

• Better and bad. Practice distinguishing between a level (e.g., bad) and a direction of change (e.g., better). Convince yourself that things can be both better ...

• Become better at probing other people’s thinking. Ask questions. Simple ones are better. “Why” is the best.
• Slow down. Make sure you give yourself time to think.
• Probe yourself. Try and understand if you’re talking about something you really know ...