Writing has never been one of my hobbies. So why do it?

To clarify my thoughts

I’ve heard that writing helps clarify thinking. I hope that clearer thoughts will:

• Produce deeper understanding: Richard Feynman was one of the greatest physicists of the 20th centry. His process for learning anything starts by explaining the topic as simply as you can. The rest involves refining that explanation until it’s as simple as possible. For Feynman, communication is key to understanding.
• Reduce anxiety: Uncertainty causes anxiety. While I’m not a particularly anxious person, I’d still prefer less anxiety to more. Since clarity is the opposite of uncertainty, I’m hopeful that writing will settle the mind.

To improve my skills

Software engineering requires frequent written communication. For example:

• Documentation
• Tech specs
• Proposals to remove, add, or change team processes
• Code review comments
• Meeting agendas & notes
• Slack conversations

Writing has become increasingly important as my career has progressed and companies embrace hybrid and remote work. I hope that practicing writing will improve my clarity and concision.

Why publish?

Writing can be practiced in a journal, privately. So why publish it in a blog?

To invite criticism

One person’s thoughts are vulnerable to many cognitive biases. Other people identify these flaws more easily than the thinker can.

The internet is full of critics, and selfishly I’d like to harness that criticism for my benefit.

To increase impact

There are many ways I share and refine ideas at work.

• To individuals: Over 1-1s, code reviews, or slack.
• To teammates: Over slack or during retros.
• To the organization: In RFCs or technical strategy docs.

These all serve their purpose, but a public blog has several advantages:

• A bigger audience: The internet has many more users than I have coworkers. A bigger audience means more feedback, and also more impact on the industry.
• A more durable record: Blog posts are useful throughout my entire career. Other mediums have a shorter shelf-life. Rather than rehashing the same topic with different audiences, I can link future coworkers drectly to these posts.