skip to content
Site header image reelikklemind

🎙️ How to Write Good: OpenAI Founder Reveals His Writing System

Sam Altman: OpenAI Founder Reveals His Writing System

🌲 Evergreen 🎧 Podcast 💊 Self Help 👔 Business

🎙️ How to Write Good: Sam Altman, OpenAI Founder Reveals His Writing System

PODCAST INFORMATION

How to Write Good
Sam Altman: OpenAI Founder Reveals His Writing System
David Perell (Host)
Sam Altman (Guest) - OpenAI founder, entrepreneur, investor
Episode Duration: approximately 47 minutes

🎧 Listen here.


HOOK

Sam Altman, despite not considering himself a natural writer, has developed a systematic approach to writing that serves as a powerful tool for thinking, decision-making, and leadership at one of the world's most influential AI companies.


ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Writing is not primarily about communication but rather a tool for externalized thinking that helps clarify ideas, make better decisions, and ultimately shape the direction of world-changing organizations.

SUMMARY

This episode of "How to Write Good" features a fascinating conversation with Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, about his relationship with writing, thinking, and how AI tools are transforming the writing process. The conversation begins with Altman sharing his thoughts on how large language models are changing writing and communication. He predicts that people will write differently in the future, not simply by having AI generate text for them, but by using AI as a tool to help discover new ideas in what he calls the "idea space." Altman criticizes the current state of writing tools, noting that most people still use basic word processors without technological aids for thinking, despite decades of "Tools for Thought" concepts.

Altman emphasizes that words will remain crucial for communicating with computers, as natural language is becoming the primary interface. He discusses the rigor of text and how it allows for precise pointing and disagreement, unlike vague conversations. When asked about how ChatGPT should change writing education, Altman suggests we don't yet know what the writing process of the future will look like, but he believes the core value of writing, clarifying thinking, will remain.

A significant portion of the conversation explores how Altman uses ChatGPT daily as a general-purpose tool, with particularly impressive applications in programming help. He shares that he's found new ways to incorporate it into his workflow every few months. Altman also discusses his preference for short communication, including seven-word emails, and how ChatGPT helps him summarize long emails he might otherwise ignore.

The conversation delves into how Altman's reduced anxiety has improved his thinking. He quotes someone saying "most people can't even let themselves think the interesting thoughts much less say the interesting ideas," and explains how background anxiety makes it harder to think new thoughts and focus. He emphasizes the importance of being able to explore ideas without worrying about what others will think.

Altman strongly advocates for spending more time thinking about what to work on rather than how to be more productive. He describes writing as "externalized thinking" and shares that he still relies on writing to work through hard problems or confusion. He writes primarily for himself and private groups, rarely for public consumption.

The conversation touches on Altman's communication lessons from Peter Thiel, particularly Thiel's ability to create evocative, short statements that stick in the brain. Altman contrasts Thiel's boundless, unconventional thinking with his own approach of finding what's working and pushing harder on it.

Altman discusses his writing process in detail, including his preference for spiral notebooks that allow him to rip out pages, his specific pen preferences (Uniball Micro5 and Muji 36/37), and how he goes through a notebook every 2-3 weeks. He describes his rhythm of intense office weeks followed by quiet weekend thinking blocks.

Regarding AI's impact on writing, Altman doesn't believe AI will kill writing but will transform it. He sees AI as an incredible tool for writers (a sparring partner and collaborator) rather than a replacement. He emphasizes that the most valuable skills in an AI world will be having great ideas, knowing what you want the AI to do, and taste creation.

The episode concludes with Altman sharing his belief that writing will remain important as a thinking tool, even as AI evolves. He doesn't see evidence that AI is killing serious writing and predicts that even if AI could write better than humans, people would still want to connect with human authors and their life stories.


INSIGHTS

  1. Writing is primarily a tool for thinking, not just communication. Altman describes it as "externalized thinking" that helps clarify ideas.
  2. AI will transform writing not by replacing human writers but by serving as a collaborative tool that helps humans think of ideas they couldn't have alone.
  3. The most valuable writing skill in the AI age won't be generating text but having great ideas and knowing what you want AI to help you create.
  4. Reducing anxiety is crucial for clear thinking. Most people can't even let themselves think interesting thoughts due to background anxiety and worry about others' opinions.
  5. People spend too much time optimizing for productivity and too little time thinking about what they should be working on in the first place.
  6. Good ideas are fragile and need protection. Especially from "smart people who understand why every great idea is bad."
  7. The best writing is concise. Altman prefers documents short enough to send as a mobile phone screenshot.
  8. Writing helps reveal unclear thinking. Altman found that YC applicants who couldn't express themselves clearly also couldn't run their companies clearly.
  9. Physical tools matter for thinking. Altman has specific preferences for notebooks (spiral, pages that rip out easily) and pens.
  10. Even in an AI world, human connection to authors will remain valuable; people want to know about the writer's life story and feel a shared human experience.


FRAMEWORKS & MODELS

  1. Externalized Thinking Framework: Altman views writing not as communication but as a way to externalize and organize thinking. When faced with a hard problem or confusion, he sits down and writes it out to explain it to himself or others. This process helps sharpen vague ideas that are impossible to clarify through thinking alone.
  2. Fragile Ideas Protection Model: Altman describes good ideas as "extremely fragile" and emphasizes the need to protect them in their early stages. This involves being careful about who you surround yourself with (avoiding "toxic" people who are so smart they understand why every great idea is bad) and creating processes that don't accidentally kill good ideas.
  3. Writing for Clarity Process: Altman's approach to writing involves using spiral notebooks that allow pages to be ripped out and laid flat, taking extensive notes (going through a notebook every 2-3 weeks), writing primarily for himself and private groups, keeping documents short (preferably short enough for a mobile screenshot), and using writing to force clarity of thinking before meetings or pitches.
  4. AI Collaboration Model: Altman sees AI not as a replacement for human writers but as a collaborative tool that can act as a "super thesaurus" when struggling with wording, help generate examples and stories that amplify initial ideas, serve as a sparring partner to challenge and refine thinking, and lower the activation energy for writing, making it possible to write in short bursts rather than requiring long, uninterrupted sessions.
  5. Rhythm of Thinking Model: Altman follows a specific rhythm for deep thinking: intense, packed weeks in the office with no time for deep thinking, followed by quiet weekends with long blocks of uninterrupted time for reflection and writing. Historically, he would take longer chunks of time off (a month with people, a month alone), though this doesn't happen anymore.


QUOTES

  1. "I think of writing as sort of like externalized thinking. I still if I have like a very hard problem or if I feel a little bit confused about something have not found anything better to do than to like sit down and make myself write it out." - Sam Altman
  2. "Most people can't even let themselves think the interesting thoughts much less say the interesting ideas." - Sam Altman, quoting someone else
  3. "If you have a choice between spending some effort thinking about what to work on versus how to like be a little bit more productive in this new method or that new method, you should have a very high bar for doing anything but thinking about what to work on." - Sam Altman
  4. "Clear communication is very much less important and very much Downstream of actually clear thinking." - Sam Altman
  5. "Writing is not my gift and I'm okay with that. Writing is Super valuable to me as a tool for thinking for communicating with internally with the org." - Sam Altman
  6. "The thing that I have been thinking about is how can I use chat GPT to just like make writing feel higher volume and lower Stakes like how I still like if I have to go write like a 10 page thing that still feels like a huge thing to have to go do." - Sam Altman
  7. "I find it astonishing how much writing just for yourself uh sometimes for a small group of other people you're exploring an idea with but mostly writing just for yourself helps clarify what you actually think." - Sam Altman
  8. "The best ideas are extremely fragile and there is an unbelievable amount of value in figuring out a setup a method whatever you want to call it for not killing very fragile but potentially very great ideas." - Sam Altman
  9. "I don't see any evidence whatsoever that AI seems to be killing writing. I think it would have to be like full super intelligence before I was like okay this is going to replace human writing full stop." - Sam Altman
  10. "Compression is like the secret to intelligence." - Sam Altman, paraphrasing Ilya Sutskever


HABITS

  1. Use writing as a thinking tool: When facing a hard problem or confusion, sit down and write it out to clarify your thinking.
  2. Keep a spiral notebook: Use a notebook that allows you to rip out pages, lay flat, and fits in your pocket. Altman prefers specific pens (Uniball Micro5 or Muji 36/37 in dark blue ink).
  3. Write extensively: Altman goes through a notebook every 2-3 weeks, taking copious notes and then ripping out pages to organize his thoughts.
  4. Keep documents short: Aim for documents short enough to send as a mobile phone screenshot—brevity forces clarity.
  5. Create a thinking rhythm: Balance intense work periods with quiet blocks of time for reflection and writing (Altman uses weekends for this).
  6. Use AI as a collaborative tool: Leverage ChatGPT as a "super thesaurus," sparring partner, and idea generator rather than just a text producer.
  7. Protect fragile ideas: Be careful about who you share early ideas with, avoiding people who are "so smart they understand why every great idea is bad."
  8. Prioritize thinking about what to work on: Spend more time deciding what to work on rather than optimizing for productivity.
  9. Write for yourself first: Altman writes primarily for himself and private groups, using writing to clarify his own thinking before sharing with others.
  10. Reduce anxiety for clearer thinking: Work on reducing background anxiety and self-criticism to allow yourself to explore ideas without worrying about what others will think.


REFERENCES

  1. Peter Thiel's communication style: Altman discusses how Thiel creates "very evocative very short statements that really stick in your brain" and combines interesting ideas with interesting ways of expressing them.
  2. Paul Graham's writing: Altman mentions learning from reading Graham's essays, describing him as "an unbelievable writer" whose style influenced a generation of startup founders.
  3. Ilya Sutskever's compression theory: Altman shares that Sutskever said "what these models are really about is compression and we're going to go figure out how to compress as much knowledge as possible and that's how we're going to make AI" and that "compression is like the secret to intelligence."
  4. Napoleon's communication principles: Altman references Napoleon's emphasis on clear directives and communication, particularly in battlefield situations where alignment is crucial.
  5. David Senra's editing philosophy: Altman mentions hearing "I'm a terrible writer but I'm a great editor" from David Senra, highlighting editing as a valuable skill.
  6. Creative writing teaching method: Altman shares a story about a creative writing teacher who has students cut unnecessary elements from their writing to reveal whether there's actually a story underneath.
  7. Y Combinator application insights: Altman observed that clarity in YC applications correlated with clarity in how founders ran their companies, communicated with teams, and explained their vision to investors and customers.
  8. Naval Ravikant's work philosophy: Altman refers to Naval's idea that in the future, people won't "work like a cow" but will be like lions with "periods of sprint and rest."



Crepi il lupo! 🐺