6 ms·

I have discussed this idea with friends who are writers / artists. Call me a cynic, but while many writers / artists aspire to collective shared knowledge, the

I have discussed this idea with friends who are writers / artists. Call me a cynic, but while many writers / artists aspire to collective shared knowledge, the reality of both the writing and art market is that unique knowledge is an important differentiator and an asset to their careers. If you do find a fascinating, rare 19th century travel journal in some online archive the last thing you are going to do is share it with others like you until you're sure that you're not going to use it as material yourself. The exception to this being other writers completed work (ie long-form articles, books), but that probably doesn't need a focus on writers / artists per se and a more general "aesthete" HN might work better...

sodality2 4y ago
Is this any different for those in the typical HN fields - software engineering, IT, etc?
- golergka 4y ago
  I've never saw a software engineer hoard some knowledge for a competitive edge. I guess it's blue/red ocean market difference multiplied by the fact that average engineer can feel pretty successful with his career, whereas an average writer is anything but.
  - elcapitan 4y ago
    Even in writing, the right combination of execution and being in the right place at the right time is everything, and ideas/knowledge/concepts are like sand at the beach. But yeah like all art "markets" it's massively unevenly distributed, so you'll find way more people who are cynical about it.
  - bot41 4y ago
    > I've never saw a software engineer hoard some knowledge for a competitive edge. Not even in work?
soneca 4y ago
That's not my experience at all. I am trying to start a new career as a fiction writer, and writers are very interested in sharing knowledge. I say this for both professional, published authors and wannabes like me. I was part of a long creative writing course (about 9 months), and our class of 20 formed a bond of helping each other A LOT. Sharing tips, beta reading, posting about prizes, open calls for literary magazines, etc. In this class, we decided to start inviting published authors to share tips for beginners. We got mostly positive responses. Professional writers would spend about 2 hours with us (online) sharing tips and answering questions. All of them were very transparent about how they write and gave useful tips on how to get published. They said things that would be impossible to learn without talking to a professional author. So I call you a cynic, as you asked me to, and a wrong one at that.
- svnt 4y ago
  To understand this more fully you’d need to appreciate two things. One is that while there are a lot of things that people will share with you (they often want to share their expertise/craft and be good humans), there are a number of things they won’t share with you. Two is that when you are starting out you are in a position where almost all information from an experienced artisan is helpful. That can mean you may easily miss what they are not telling you. This is not to say they are misleading you or hold ill will because the information they withhold from the conversation would not be useful to you anyway, as you are not in a position to use it or be a threat to them.
  - soneca 4y ago
    Or, the alternative, is that yours (apparently) and gp’s point of view is not that common as you think it is. So it is not me that have to understand things, it is you that are wrong. Also, the mentioned example seems very implausible. What makes an author unique is not what source they used for inspiration. Two writers will get the exact same “19th century travel journal” and write to completely different stories inspired by it. In different genres most likely.
    - 4y ago

sodality2 4y ago

Is this any different for those in the typical HN fields - software engineering, IT, etc?

golergka 4y ago
I've never saw a software engineer hoard some knowledge for a competitive edge. I guess it's blue/red ocean market difference multiplied by the fact that average engineer can feel pretty successful with his career, whereas an average writer is anything but.
- elcapitan 4y ago
  Even in writing, the right combination of execution and being in the right place at the right time is everything, and ideas/knowledge/concepts are like sand at the beach. But yeah like all art "markets" it's massively unevenly distributed, so you'll find way more people who are cynical about it.
- bot41 4y ago
  > I've never saw a software engineer hoard some knowledge for a competitive edge. Not even in work?

soneca 4y ago

That's not my experience at all. I am trying to start a new career as a fiction writer, and writers are very interested in sharing knowledge. I say this for both professional, published authors and wannabes like me. I was part of a long creative writing course (about 9 months), and our class of 20 formed a bond of helping each other A LOT. Sharing tips, beta reading, posting about prizes, open calls for literary magazines, etc. In this class, we decided to start inviting published authors to share tips for beginners. We got mostly positive responses. Professional writers would spend about 2 hours with us (online) sharing tips and answering questions. All of them were very transparent about how they write and gave useful tips on how to get published. They said things that would be impossible to learn without talking to a professional author. So I call you a cynic, as you asked me to, and a wrong one at that.

svnt 4y ago
To understand this more fully you’d need to appreciate two things. One is that while there are a lot of things that people will share with you (they often want to share their expertise/craft and be good humans), there are a number of things they won’t share with you. Two is that when you are starting out you are in a position where almost all information from an experienced artisan is helpful. That can mean you may easily miss what they are not telling you. This is not to say they are misleading you or hold ill will because the information they withhold from the conversation would not be useful to you anyway, as you are not in a position to use it or be a threat to them.
- soneca 4y ago
  Or, the alternative, is that yours (apparently) and gp’s point of view is not that common as you think it is. So it is not me that have to understand things, it is you that are wrong. Also, the mentioned example seems very implausible. What makes an author unique is not what source they used for inspiration. Two writers will get the exact same “19th century travel journal” and write to completely different stories inspired by it. In different genres most likely.
  - 4y ago