Dec 15, 2022·edited Dec 15, 2022Liked by Étienne Fortier-Dubois
Definitely need more prompt engineering like this since I can't write for diddly squat (learned that from Dr. Evil). But yes this is in essence tacit learning of language simplified. https://commoncog.com/the-tacit-knowledge-series/
About the "I'm writing a letter to a friend" mindset, I think the main ways it would affect my own writing if I were to take it seriously is actually *using fewer disclaimers*.
When I write for an unknown audience, there's a certain amount of walking on eggshells involved. I'm not *comfortable* with the unknown reader, they're not comfortable with me, we don't have a rich shared context - so necessarily there are some things I'll want to establish up front. I will pre-empt some potential hostile misreadings, or take the time to establish a clear context before diving into the heart of the matter, to make sure we're on the same page.
If I were writing for a specific friend... I'd jettison a lot of that, because our shared context simply makes it unnecessary. It might even feel blunter, more abrupt that way... because it's leaning on that known-solid friendship.
(I doubt that actually following that sort of mindset when really writing for an unknown audience would be a great idea.)
Definitely need more prompt engineering like this since I can't write for diddly squat (learned that from Dr. Evil). But yes this is in essence tacit learning of language simplified. https://commoncog.com/the-tacit-knowledge-series/
About the "I'm writing a letter to a friend" mindset, I think the main ways it would affect my own writing if I were to take it seriously is actually *using fewer disclaimers*.
When I write for an unknown audience, there's a certain amount of walking on eggshells involved. I'm not *comfortable* with the unknown reader, they're not comfortable with me, we don't have a rich shared context - so necessarily there are some things I'll want to establish up front. I will pre-empt some potential hostile misreadings, or take the time to establish a clear context before diving into the heart of the matter, to make sure we're on the same page.
If I were writing for a specific friend... I'd jettison a lot of that, because our shared context simply makes it unnecessary. It might even feel blunter, more abrupt that way... because it's leaning on that known-solid friendship.
(I doubt that actually following that sort of mindset when really writing for an unknown audience would be a great idea.)
I have actually in my real life won major awards using the "this is an award-winning piece" prompt. It is spooky.