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Last week, Ryan Hoover and team from ProductHunt invited me for their newly launched “asked me anything” platform. A few hundred folks joined and many asked questions. I have highlighted some of my favorite questions (and my answers) from the session. I hope you get a chance to read them.

Could you tell me what is the most important in technology writing?

You have to focus on the reader and make sure that you write in a simple, clean manner that even a layperson can understand. Technology is confusing to people. A writer’s job is to simplify it.

What would you do if you were 25 in 2015? AND what life advice would you give your 25 year old self?

I think as every 25 year old, I though I knew the answers. The problem was I didn’t how how to ask the right questions. I think my one piece of advise to my 25-year-old self would have been: respect those with experience, ask more questions and be more open to learn from them.

As a writer – mostly published online – what kind of feedback did you value most (or least) after putting your words out into the world?

Honest feedback. Not everything I write is good, or makes sense. Not everything that is put out there by me is well done. I appreciate when people share their feedback, politely of course and state the reasons why they disagree. I think I learn from other people’s disagreements.

What originally got you hooked on writing, and what are some of the internal motivators that continue to keep you innovating in the writing/media space?

It is a tough question to answer in such a short time frame: but let me try, I love writing. Period. I was surprised that I got paid for it for so long. I would do it for free. It is the only thing I do which makes me complete. I don’t know why, but that is god’s honest truth.

What does your writing process typically look like, and what are your favorite tools?

Mostly paper and pen. I think process is basically days of conversations, many articles read and then suddenly everything clicks into place and I start drafting it out. Once I am done writing, I type it up in either Quip or SimpleNote and share it with a few friends to get their opinions. Nothing very complicated. I do love writing with my fountain pens!

Answers to other topics are here on ProductHunt page. I will try and plough through the unanswered questions in the near future. [Link]

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Om Malik

Om Malik is a San Francisco based writer, photographer and investor. More....

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Letter from Om

A (nearly) bi-weekly dispatch about tech & future.

You will get my reporting, analysis, conversations, and curation of the essential information you need to make sense of the present future.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

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