How I Write
survey says: constraints can be a blessing
I write in two very different ways.
The first method takes me about a minute per word. I chew on the words at breakfast, dream about them on a long run, wrestle with them during a sleepless night, and, eventually, have a vision of them in their final form. Then, I type it up.
For straightforward topics, the typing and publication can be swift once I sit at the keyboard. For more difficult essays, the words must first sit for days and weeks before a final effort can be made to make it word-perfect.
The second method is very different.
I write much faster, at least 10 times the output1 per hour of effort, and sometimes 50 times the output. But, I do so in my own style.
I occasionally switch to kanji2. There are two main reasons for this.
For effect. The jarring context-shift conveys meaning in a way that a running text could not provide. It also makes it easy to skip over that content.
To refer to complex concepts in a single “word”. For most readers, something like 用两种语言说复杂的词3 will be a single “token” in processing that they don’t understand.
I have a few of my own words. For example, I have found need for 容易的 words to replace “infrared” and “ultraviolet”, and I have settled on xantham and mogue for those new4 names.
I use color-tones. They are referred to as colors, but “linguistic register” is probably the more accurate term for them.
xantham (infrared) - overconfident. and often wrong as a result of that
red - emphasized. “red for angry”, but also red for “yes, I did check the historical record”
orange - starts every response with "well, actually,". sometimes points out a fatal flaw in the previous argument. other times, it is a non-sequitur objection that is, technically, true.
yellow - doggerel. often straw-man arguments, non-sequitur famous quotations, etc. possibly misleading, either by accident or by design.
green - "technical" information. explanations of unusual syntax.
blue - reserved for post production. information that is “more correct” than the other text because it was added in post-production.
violet - material spoken5 aloud.
mogue (ultraviolet) - material relating to the state of the world.
gray - material relating to the past. detached and nostalgic
What does it look like? I’m working on a public version at https://shragafeivel.com/ …
As the old adage goes: “if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”.
The English word “kanji” is a borrowing from the Japanese kanji = 漢字 (汉字)
Right now, there aren’t good browser tools to be able to highlight a CJK ideograph and get the rough definition and 普通话 pronunciation.
用两种语言说复杂的词 means “using two languages to express complicated concepts”.
The food name you vaguely remember is xanthan·gum ( C35H49O29 ).
It is an underrated skill to be able to talk as you type.
Which means “to say the words as they are typed”, not “an ability to have an unrelated conversation on a different topic”.