6 ms·

Writing well is an undervalued skill in life, not just in engineering. When you work on a team of peers with similar skills in your field, whether that field is

Writing well is an undervalued skill in life, not just in engineering. When you work on a team of peers with similar skills in your field, whether that field is engineering or something else, being able to write well and communicate well become strong differentiators. FWIW, I'm pretty sure that writing (reasonably) well online is what got me a job in venture capital after ten years as an engineer. David Perell (host of the North Star Podcast) has been tweeting a lot of good things about the value of writing + writing tips: - https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1127348174404890625 https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1127348174404890625 - https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1124002449646395392 https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1124002449646395392 - https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1116485842615377921 https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1116485842615377921

chrshawkes 7y ago
I would say communication overall which includes reading, writing and vocal communication.
stingraycharles 7y ago
I can also recommend June Casagrande, who has lots of great recommendations on how to improve your writing skills. This is one of her books I would recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Was-Best-Sentences-Worst-Crafting/dp/158008740X https://www.amazon.com/Was-Best-Sentences-Worst-Crafting/dp/...
ordinaryradical 7y ago
I'm curious about your experience. How do you think your writing translated into value in the eyes of the VC world? Or was it that you'd built a platform online first through your writing and then they solicited you? In my experience my ability here has always been valued after the fact; I have the strong impression that few companies value writing, even as a secondary skill, or see it as a differentiator.
- cosmodisk 7y ago
  One doesn't always get to meet people, sometimes and tbh quite often it has to be on LinkedIn,via email or even a letter.. Ability to do it well sets you apart and also brings confidence to those you try to communicate with.A well written proposal to a VC is 100 times better than some mish mash of words.
- wolco 7y ago
  Writing is not a skill asked for but it can help you standout when first approaching vcs.
- lpolovets 7y ago
  A few positive experiences I've had related to writing: 1) I used to write a lot on Quora. Being an engineer who can write made my future VC partners believe that I could do more than engineering. I'm pretty sure that building a decent readership base on Quora is what put me on my partners' radar in the first place. 2) Writing on my blog/Twitter/etc has helped put my name and my fund's name on more people's radars and generated a lot of leads for potential investments. As an introvert, writing has been an excellent solution to not wanting to go to networking events/dinners/etc. :) On the startup side, writing/content marketing are great ways to get customers, especially for b2b companies. Having a strong product matters, but being able to articulate the product's value and your company's expertise through writing is incredibly helpful.
  - frequentnapper 7y ago
    How did you transition from Engineer to VC if you don't mind me asking?
    - lpolovets 7y ago
      Do you mean how I got into the industry? How I learned to be a VC once I was in the industry? Something else?
clairity 7y ago
me too. writing concisely has helped me throughout my career, but that wasn't always the case. i undervalued writing growing up and slowly fell behind my peers. that finally caught up to me in college where i struggled to distill and express the often conflicting ideas squirming around in my head. but a love of novel ideas led me to take extra liberal arts courses, accept the resultant mediocre grades, and ultimately improve my writing. becoming a teaching assistant for an engineering writing class was where, in comparison with my younger peers, i could finally see that i'd indeed improved (and hopeful that the poor writing i graded wasn't indicative of future skill!).
afarrell 7y ago
In what sense is it under-valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  In the sense I've never seen any interview require a writing sample from a dev.
  - thrower123 7y ago
    You have to write at least a few coherent, error-free paragraphs in your resume typically. It's something of a good filter to toss out people that either can't, or can't be bothered to, write clearly for that small sample.
    - sonnyblarney 7y ago
      People generally don't read prose in technical resumes, moreover, I'd never hold it against a candidate because they're nudged into writing in a highly summarized, notation style. Unless there were blatant issues with language, and then I'd be super concerned about blowing off an 'english as a second language candidate'. About 1/2 of devs it seems are from 'somewhere else' and we can't expect them to have world class technical chops and perfect fluency.
  - fbourque 7y ago
    While almost never seen, some do. I've had to write a few pages narrative of a professional experience for a Lab126 (Amazon) interview.
- psadri 7y ago
  Apparently some engineers who believe writing code is all that matters (myself included at some point in time).
cutenewt 7y ago
Thanks for sharing the Tweets. Two more great resources on how to write well: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548 https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction... https://www.amazon.com/Help-Writers-Solutions-Problems-Writer/dp/0316126705 https://www.amazon.com/Help-Writers-Solutions-Problems-Write...
unfocused828 7y ago
I disagree that writing is undervalued. I think that writing is highly valuable and highly rewarded...but that the path to overcome challenges with writing is bafflingly mysterious. Does anyone know of a therapist who has experience helping people overcome writing anxiety? I genuinely don’t know how to find one. Therapist-shopping is baffling. I ask this as a software engineer who can produce pretty solid writing if given enough time but for whom doing so prompts thoughts of severe self harm. I was pushed to resign from my last job as a result of handing in a nearly-blank self-evaluation during my company’s performance review process, so I’m willing to spend... I guess up to $8k, (maybe more? Anything’s better than suicide to be honest. I love life in general and suppose it would be rational to spend half my income to eliminate the risk of it) On getting this finally solved after 2 decades of occasional agony.
- ducttape12 7y ago
  I think any therapist who specializes in anxiety would be a good fit. Some studies show CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to be as effective as medicine. www.psychologytoday.com has a search for finding local therapists. I'd start there. And good luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
- cosmie 7y ago
  I don't have that strong of a reaction, but realized fairly recently that I also get a lot of anxiety from writing on demand. What works for me is not starting from scratch. If I do, I'll either never get it done or procrastinate until the last minute (while building up an incredible amount of anxiety in the interim). Instead, I try one of two things: 1) Repurpose something else I have. As long as I have a seed to build off of or skeleton to frame against, I'm able to tackle it fine. If I have no frame of reference, I'll try to find one. In your self-evaluation case, I'd ask for an anonymous example from your boss or HR to understand the expectations. Or, 2) Ask a trusted friend or colleague to check it over. My work context switches from C-level client management to architecture and analytics-related dev work. While I can articulate a matter to any audience, that also means I can completely miss the mark if I misjudge an audience/recipient I haven't addressed before. So I'll brain dump a bunch of stuff, then ask someone who's closer to the target audience or more familiar with them. They'll help act as a sanity check whether I'm on the right page, and I use their feedback to refine things. I'm not sure if either of those coping strategies will help for you, but I wanted to mention them just in case!
quickpost 7y ago
Those tweets from David Perell are amazing. Thanks for sharing!

chrshawkes 7y ago

I would say communication overall which includes reading, writing and vocal communication.

stingraycharles 7y ago

I can also recommend June Casagrande, who has lots of great recommendations on how to improve your writing skills. This is one of her books I would recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Was-Best-Sentences-Worst-Crafting/dp/158008740X https://www.amazon.com/Was-Best-Sentences-Worst-Crafting/dp/...

ordinaryradical 7y ago

I'm curious about your experience. How do you think your writing translated into value in the eyes of the VC world? Or was it that you'd built a platform online first through your writing and then they solicited you? In my experience my ability here has always been valued after the fact; I have the strong impression that few companies value writing, even as a secondary skill, or see it as a differentiator.

cosmodisk 7y ago
One doesn't always get to meet people, sometimes and tbh quite often it has to be on LinkedIn,via email or even a letter.. Ability to do it well sets you apart and also brings confidence to those you try to communicate with.A well written proposal to a VC is 100 times better than some mish mash of words.
wolco 7y ago
Writing is not a skill asked for but it can help you standout when first approaching vcs.
lpolovets 7y ago
A few positive experiences I've had related to writing: 1) I used to write a lot on Quora. Being an engineer who can write made my future VC partners believe that I could do more than engineering. I'm pretty sure that building a decent readership base on Quora is what put me on my partners' radar in the first place. 2) Writing on my blog/Twitter/etc has helped put my name and my fund's name on more people's radars and generated a lot of leads for potential investments. As an introvert, writing has been an excellent solution to not wanting to go to networking events/dinners/etc. :) On the startup side, writing/content marketing are great ways to get customers, especially for b2b companies. Having a strong product matters, but being able to articulate the product's value and your company's expertise through writing is incredibly helpful.
- frequentnapper 7y ago
  How did you transition from Engineer to VC if you don't mind me asking?
  - lpolovets 7y ago
    Do you mean how I got into the industry? How I learned to be a VC once I was in the industry? Something else?

clairity 7y ago

me too. writing concisely has helped me throughout my career, but that wasn't always the case. i undervalued writing growing up and slowly fell behind my peers. that finally caught up to me in college where i struggled to distill and express the often conflicting ideas squirming around in my head. but a love of novel ideas led me to take extra liberal arts courses, accept the resultant mediocre grades, and ultimately improve my writing. becoming a teaching assistant for an engineering writing class was where, in comparison with my younger peers, i could finally see that i'd indeed improved (and hopeful that the poor writing i graded wasn't indicative of future skill!).

afarrell 7y ago

In what sense is it under-valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?

JamesBarney 7y ago
In the sense I've never seen any interview require a writing sample from a dev.
- thrower123 7y ago
  You have to write at least a few coherent, error-free paragraphs in your resume typically. It's something of a good filter to toss out people that either can't, or can't be bothered to, write clearly for that small sample.
  - sonnyblarney 7y ago
    People generally don't read prose in technical resumes, moreover, I'd never hold it against a candidate because they're nudged into writing in a highly summarized, notation style. Unless there were blatant issues with language, and then I'd be super concerned about blowing off an 'english as a second language candidate'. About 1/2 of devs it seems are from 'somewhere else' and we can't expect them to have world class technical chops and perfect fluency.
- fbourque 7y ago
  While almost never seen, some do. I've had to write a few pages narrative of a professional experience for a Lab126 (Amazon) interview.
psadri 7y ago
Apparently some engineers who believe writing code is all that matters (myself included at some point in time).

cutenewt 7y ago

Thanks for sharing the Tweets. Two more great resources on how to write well: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548 https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction... https://www.amazon.com/Help-Writers-Solutions-Problems-Writer/dp/0316126705 https://www.amazon.com/Help-Writers-Solutions-Problems-Write...

unfocused828 7y ago

I disagree that writing is undervalued. I think that writing is highly valuable and highly rewarded...but that the path to overcome challenges with writing is bafflingly mysterious. Does anyone know of a therapist who has experience helping people overcome writing anxiety? I genuinely don’t know how to find one. Therapist-shopping is baffling. I ask this as a software engineer who can produce pretty solid writing if given enough time but for whom doing so prompts thoughts of severe self harm. I was pushed to resign from my last job as a result of handing in a nearly-blank self-evaluation during my company’s performance review process, so I’m willing to spend... I guess up to $8k, (maybe more? Anything’s better than suicide to be honest. I love life in general and suppose it would be rational to spend half my income to eliminate the risk of it) On getting this finally solved after 2 decades of occasional agony.

ducttape12 7y ago
I think any therapist who specializes in anxiety would be a good fit. Some studies show CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to be as effective as medicine. www.psychologytoday.com has a search for finding local therapists. I'd start there. And good luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
cosmie 7y ago
I don't have that strong of a reaction, but realized fairly recently that I also get a lot of anxiety from writing on demand. What works for me is not starting from scratch. If I do, I'll either never get it done or procrastinate until the last minute (while building up an incredible amount of anxiety in the interim). Instead, I try one of two things: 1) Repurpose something else I have. As long as I have a seed to build off of or skeleton to frame against, I'm able to tackle it fine. If I have no frame of reference, I'll try to find one. In your self-evaluation case, I'd ask for an anonymous example from your boss or HR to understand the expectations. Or, 2) Ask a trusted friend or colleague to check it over. My work context switches from C-level client management to architecture and analytics-related dev work. While I can articulate a matter to any audience, that also means I can completely miss the mark if I misjudge an audience/recipient I haven't addressed before. So I'll brain dump a bunch of stuff, then ask someone who's closer to the target audience or more familiar with them. They'll help act as a sanity check whether I'm on the right page, and I use their feedback to refine things. I'm not sure if either of those coping strategies will help for you, but I wanted to mention them just in case!

quickpost 7y ago

Those tweets from David Perell are amazing. Thanks for sharing!