Under-offered writing advice: be funny!
Most of my favorite writers are *way* funnier than me. Poeple gravitate more towards "fun to read" (vs e.g. "insightful") than we realize or admit!
Also, it's easier to make more jokes than to have better insights :)
Maybe people don't do this bc it feels manipulative? I disagree: reading is hard and boring. When you add jokes to a dry post, you're not tricking people into reading it instead of something more insightful; you're saving them from closing the tab and checking Twitter again.
Cf. Scott Alexander on microhumor (from slatestarcodex.com/2016/02/20/wri…):
Mostly just signal boosting Scott on this because he buried "maybe the number one thing that separates really enjoyable writers from people who are technically proficient" as #5/10, sandwiched between "don't repeat the same word too much" and "use concrete examples"
(And also wondering how much of a coincidence as it is that my 2 most microhumorous recent posts were the ones that spent a long time on the HN frontpage)
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