0085

An interesting consequence of writing so many of these is that each one has to be filled up with words. Furthermore, all of the words have to be about things you think. It's even better if all of these thoughts form a coherent, gripping narrative that comes to a satisfying conclusion while remaining roughly 1000 words.

When we say that someone has really good social skills, or soft skills in the workplace, or is a good conversationalist, what it essentially means is that they're good at talking. They don't run out of things to say, and the thing that they do say are interesting and attention grabbing. These kinds of people rise to the top of managements partly because management involves a lot of talking which some people are very good at.

A lot of people aren't necessarily good at this. I've noticed a big chunk of it correlates with being interesting. If you have a lot of hobbies or a rich inner life, then when people chat with you about things you'll be able to keep it going. You'll have a lot to share by virtue of doing so many things, and when others discuss stuff you'll have more to say about it. It's a good feeling.

The alternative is having those kinds of conversations that go something like:

"So what have you been up to? Anything interesing?" "Nah, not really. Just watching anime, going to the gym a bit. You?" "Yeah same here. Same old."

Not very engaging, and those conversations will happen unless you put in the work to get something better. Luckily my life is typically pretty interesting so I usually have more things to say. Having things to say to people isn't the main metric that I use to plan out my days, but I think it's generally a good sign when I have more things to talk about, and when I have less to say it usually means I should make some plans.

Writing here is a lot like this. Not with events exactly, but I'd say my output for word vomits especially is pretty closely correlated to the amount of interesting thoughts and observations I have. When I don't have much to write, and there's no external factors like travel to blame it on, it's also an important sign. Not that I need to plan, but more that I should think about why I've been scattered and distracted.

I have quite the abundance of thoughts and opinions that strike me regularly. More when I have long stretches of time to think, but still in general there's almost always a thread to pull on. Most of the time when I'm being quiet in a corner it's because I'm chewing on some random, unimportant ideas. It's useful to have these random ideas, because any one of them could be inflated into becoming a conversation topic or a post on here.

And most of it really is intentional. The best ideas only become that because I realize I should probably remember a certain thought or concept because it's worth expanding into something more. Even the greatest word vomits start out as small as any other, and only by repeatedly drawing out more from the core concept do they reach their full potential.

That's another parallel between conversation and writing. They say that to be good conversationalist you must be good at listening, because when given the chance people love to talk. Luckily, if you're a very curious person like me, then that's not difficult at all. I have an endless gaping void inside of me that no amount of knowledge can fill up. When I'm really speaking to someone and I pay attention to that void, I latch on to every little piece of information they say because it brings with it new questions. If unchecked, I could listen and absorb somebody's life story for hours.

The same thing is incredibly useful for writing. To turn a mere seed of an idea into 1000 words, my main technique involves lots of questions. Each time I hit a seeming dead end, where it feels like there's not much left to say, I ask another question that readily comes to mind and am able to keep going. That it, I suppose, the main thing that differentiates these word vomits from a main post. Here, I intentionally start without knowing where I will finish; I have no thesis statement or conclusion, just questions.

In this sense, writing a lot of these depends not just on having a lot of interesting ideas, but more on having a deep well of curiosity to draw on.

For example, right here it feels like I've reached a natural conclusion. But I still need a couple hundred words. What to do!

Well, there's this interesting connection I've constructed between conversation and writing. I wonder if there are more parallels between them; does being good at one necessarily make you good at the other. Is being able to have a long, deep conversation with yourself one way to be a good, or at least prolific, writer? If curiosity is such a solid pillar to build deep conversations on top of, are there any ways to encourage it? What have I done to encourage mine?

I could keep engaging with any or all of these questions and keep the words flowing for as long as I like. I do want to highlight something though, that being able to generate a lot of questions isn't quite enough. An abundance of questions plus a scarcity of answers only leaves everybody feeling confused. Being able to dig into a question and draw out some kind of an answer is a deep skill on its own, and one that you've hopefully learned in school.

It's just as important to these scenarios though; nobody wants to hear someone inconclusively waffle for an hour. On the other hand, one of the most fun kinds of conversations in my opinion are the kind where people solve a question together, in what could be called an exercise in collaborative truth seeking.

Whether answering these questions with others or alone, I really do think it's worth doing. Not only does it make you a better thinker, it's fun!