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When I left high school for college (to pursue engineering) I was quite envious of my friends in the liberal arts - they were assigned papers all the time and I had no outlet for writing (something I enjoyed quite a bit).

I have realized that written/technical communication is a great differentiator.

I journal every day but specifically to your question I would say just start writing.

Knowing your audience is key. I usually include an executive summary section at the top of any design document or product requirements document for a high level view of why people should care. Then I dive into a background or history to give context. At the end of the day it's a narrative and follows similar arcs - just with more direct prose and specific facts. I'll also drop this resource here from the Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. [0]

[0]: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/software-engineer...



Practice writing every day at all times.

Replying to an email? Do the short summary at the top, then write a paragraph or two about the reasons/details/etc - these are also great references.

Encounter an issue and solve it? Write up what it was and what fixed it on a wiki, blog post, even just an email to yourself.

Hacker news? Write comments that are detailed.


Couldn’t agree more that narrative is the key. If you’re telling a compelling story (which can look very different for different audiences), you kind of get the rest for free, because you will have the reader’s attention.


Love your tip of how to structure a text. Thanks!




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