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I think I'm decent at writing overall, I did well in English at school, write up documentation which I am able to point other people to, and find I am able to w

I think I'm decent at writing overall, I did well in English at school, write up documentation which I am able to point other people to, and find I am able to write quick, clear and actionable responses to emails, chats, etc. When it's a topic I have expertise in, and the audience are pretty much my peers, and it's just a matter of accurately describing or summarizing objective facts about the state of the world, some code, some incident, etc, it's not a problem. On the other hand, I really struggle with writing up objectives, performance reviews, intern projects, my own resume, product roadmaps, etc. I tend to put this stuff off to the last minute, and spend way too much time making minor tweaks and edits, but probably not improving the overall impact. I'm never sure how much detail is useful vs just going for vague but impressive sounding bullet points. I guess these things are basically marketing / advertising / BS, and the audience is senior management, hiring managers, clients, etc. that more or less live in their own different world, or at least at a different level of abstraction from me. It also doesn't help that it's sporadic stuff that happens once or a few times / year, so I feel I never get good at it or have any kind of feedback loop, and it feels like a distraction from my "actual" coding/day-to-day job, but obviously this stuff actually really important in the long run. I am really tempted to try to hire some kind of communications consultant to basically sit down with me and do this together, or for me, on an hourly basis or something... much like I do for my taxes. Although maybe I should just learn to do it myself, read a few books / youtube on it, etc... in practice, I don't, and if I found someone who was great at it and it got done, maybe I'd have a better job, better projects, etc. Really curious to hear of thoughts on this, whether anyone has ever done something like this, whether it worked out... or if the work to find the right person and explain things exceeded the benefits. It's hard to know if this kind of activity, for me, is a "cost center" that is best outsourced, or a "profit center" that it's a mistake to outsource.

darkerside 4y ago
> I guess these things are basically marketing / advertising / BS, and the audience is senior management, hiring managers, clients, etc. You seem like a smart person. If you don't understand who is reading it and why, then of course it'll seem like meaningless busy work, and you'll have trouble writing it well. I'd consider telling your manager how you feel, and ask them for help writing these well. Kind of a pair programming session. I bet you'd get a ton out of it.
- tacostakohashi 4y ago
  I kind of do - I often just ask for feedback on things (more detail? less? happy with the prose or want bullet points?), or work on things together on a screen share where possible, etc. Sometimes people help and provide feedback which is great... but sometimes they don't, because I guess my boss is busy with his own stuff / reports / etc, or if I am writing my own objectives / appraisal for him, then he is in fact the person that needs to be persuaded, or has his own competing interests, etc.
  - darkerside 4y ago
    I think it's less about getting feedback on the work product (how is this good or bad? what should I change?), which is emotionally taxing for the feedback giver. What you want is the context of how it's going to be used (what meeting will this be presented in? what leaders will have access to it? what are the problems these people will be trying to solve?). If you know the answers to those things, and can get a sense of how your boss is working, you'll be able to give yourself the feedback you need on whether your deliverable fits the bill.

darkerside 4y ago

> I guess these things are basically marketing / advertising / BS, and the audience is senior management, hiring managers, clients, etc. You seem like a smart person. If you don't understand who is reading it and why, then of course it'll seem like meaningless busy work, and you'll have trouble writing it well. I'd consider telling your manager how you feel, and ask them for help writing these well. Kind of a pair programming session. I bet you'd get a ton out of it.

tacostakohashi 4y ago
I kind of do - I often just ask for feedback on things (more detail? less? happy with the prose or want bullet points?), or work on things together on a screen share where possible, etc. Sometimes people help and provide feedback which is great... but sometimes they don't, because I guess my boss is busy with his own stuff / reports / etc, or if I am writing my own objectives / appraisal for him, then he is in fact the person that needs to be persuaded, or has his own competing interests, etc.
- darkerside 4y ago
  I think it's less about getting feedback on the work product (how is this good or bad? what should I change?), which is emotionally taxing for the feedback giver. What you want is the context of how it's going to be used (what meeting will this be presented in? what leaders will have access to it? what are the problems these people will be trying to solve?). If you know the answers to those things, and can get a sense of how your boss is working, you'll be able to give yourself the feedback you need on whether your deliverable fits the bill.