⭐ some of my writing inspirations
The blogger I most try to emulate is probably Paul Graham. I don't care much for many of the topics he writes about (like startups and venture capital and coding), but I love reading his more general essays. Some of my favorites are "Write Simply", "How to Write Usefully", "Write Like You Talk", "The Top of My Todo List", and "The Four Quadrants of Conformism". Some of his essays are quite long, but I've not found one that wasn't worth the time it took to read it.
Paul writes with a refreshingly extreme simplicity and brevity. He doesn't use any unnecessary words. His writing flows naturally, and even the essays on the most obscure topics are accessible because of his habit of shunning jargon. His minimalist philosophy extends to his website, which has no ads, unnecessary bloat, or distractions from his writing in plain text. I try to be like Paul in that I strive to get my point across as succinctly as possible, and write about important things in language that can be understood by anyone.
A blogger that reminds me a bit of Paul is Maciej Ceglowski. I first discovered him via his TED talk about the website obesity crisis, which is long but worth every minute (text version of the talk here, if you prefer). I didn't think I cared about the topic before I watched his talk, but by the end of it he had turned me into a devotee. He's not quite as succinct as Paul is, but his wit made an impression on me. His speaking and writing make me chuckle at my screen, and I'd love to learn to write in ways that elicit the same effect.
Paul and Maciej have both inspired me to write better, but my biggest inspiration has been Visakan Veerasamy, who motivated me to start a blog and write regularly. I have internalized his advice to 'be prolific', and since starting this blog I've never felt better. Visa's taught me that when it comes to bettering your writing, quantity beats quality in the long run.
In addition to the valuable lessons these writers have taught me, when I have doubts about how to best write something I turn to their writing for guidance. How do they structure their writing, use the second person, and vary their sentence length? Analyzing the work of your favorite authors is important, because you'll start to see where the quirks in your writing come from. With time and careful study, you can assimilate elements from each of their styles into your very own unique style.