This month I want to highlight an article, Becoming a Better Writer as a Software Engineer, by Gergely Orosz. Gergely notes the importance of writing as a tool to durably communicate our thoughts, and presents a primer on how to practice and improve your writing. As my Amazon VP is fond of saying, “clarity of writing comes from clarity of thought.” I find this advice to be absolutely true, we cannot crisply communicate via written word when our thoughts are muddied. 

Writing is a core competency for all professionals. I consider myself a fairly proficient writer, however I rarely nail any communication first try. When I sit down to write, I must first collect my thoughts before I can craft a set of coherent sentences. After writing, I extensively edit the document before sending; this even applies to single-sentence emails! This may appear more expensive than writing off the cuff, however it saves time when your recipients gain clarity on your perspectives, leading to richer, more productive conversations.

https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/becoming-a-better-writer-in-tech

“Value the reader’s time more than your own. The reason for editing your writing is to make it easier for others to digest your thoughts.”