I was joking with my boss the other day that the way I start out my technical writing (which I hate because it is such a different skill set) is to start “talki

I was joking with my boss the other day that the way I start out my technical writing (which I hate because it is such a different skill set) is to start “talking shit” and then I self-edit based on the fear that someone is going to call me out for this or that, and then I have my boss look at it and edit it before it goes anywhere. It’s my new framing of it because I think that storytelling is fundamental to producing useful information. Also, I was a drama major w/ comp sci minor, so I’m probably doing what I was meant to. Technical writing should evoke emotions, not at 6 or above in a 1-10 scale of intensity, but shit, say something or what’s the point? There’s always drama at work with enough people, always politics. Sprinkling a bit of that is actually healthy imho. Not that you want cringe, but the tone, it’s colored different, when you are describing why port numbers were chosen, for example. Tell people stories. Also, be willing to invite someone else to shape and change even the things you feel the most conviction about. Too often we put ourselves into a cultural prison where we insist on making measurable contributions like an API or some cool feature that we can “specialize” in. Specialize on your own time, that’s my advice. At work, do something special, don’t specialize. It’s a myth.