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"Writing is like coding. You get better by doing it. There are no shortcuts. Write. A. Lot." I disagree. You don't get better at something by just doing it a l
by roel_v 4y ago
"Writing is like coding. You get better by doing it. There are no shortcuts. Write. A. Lot."
I disagree. You don't get better at something by just doing it a lot. You get better by doing something, evaluating how well you did (on a short feedback loop), then repeat a lot. Just doing and hoping that somehow you'll automatically evolve in the right direction won't get you anywhere. Coding implicitly has such a feedback loop. At the most basic level, your compiler will tell you about syntax. At a slightly higher level, you can see if your code does what you think it does. At a higher level still, in a matter of weeks or months you'll find out about your design decisions and architecture skills.
When writing, you don't get any such feedback. If you're very lucky and you write on quite straightforward topics like API docs, you can ask your readers 'did you get from this what you needed'. For anything more abstract, your readers most likely are not even qualified to assess how good your writing is. Overall, I strongly disagree with your notion that you should just start writing a lot and hoping for the best.
- sixhobbits 4y agoWell I didn't say "just write and hope for the best" and I agree with you to some extent, but most people will read books on writing, or follow frameworks, or watch videos, and not actually write. Writing a lot and working with an editor and reading well-written works, and reading books on writing are all good for improving your writing. But if you have to pick one, pick writing. Most people pick all the others and skip the writing part.
- mikelevins 4y agoSpeaking as a sometime professional tech writer, your advice is good. The best way I know to get rapidly better at technical writing is to write a lot with ongoing feedback from a capable professional editor. A good editor will teach you to catch and correct mistakes that you never knew were mistakes. Moreover, they'll teach you to understand why they're mistakes. Unfortunately, the opportunity to write with the support of a capable technical editor is hard to come by. If you aren't working as a tech writer in a professional publications department somewhere, it might never happen.