For me, the primary takeaway from Paul Graham's Putting Ideas into Words is this:
Ideas can feel complete. It's only when you try to put them into words that you discover they're not.
PG's other message, also echoed by many others, is that "Writing is hard. ... You have to work at it." (Fear of Writing). Another thing you read a lot about is how writing improves your overall professional abilities. If you're a journalist or novel writer, you hone these skills as part of your chosen craft. Suppose you're a business or technical professional. In that case, communicating ideas is probably a big part of your job, but improving your writing skills is likely something that requires extra effort beyond your day job.
Of course, the prerequisite for writing is coming up with an idea in the first place. In the software industry, these ideas typically boil down to explaining the details of a technology or the mechanics of some complex code, library/API, or algorithm. Most software solutions involve understanding the pros and cons of multiple open-source and/or commercial offerings. Good technology writers not only communicate the nuts and bolts, but they also effectively express opinions about these alternatives.
Many (actually, most) technology decisions involve trade-offs that have to be evaluated. Architectural decision-making processes are a good example of this. E.g. Scaling the Practice of Architecture, Conversationally proposes that software architecture can be done "as a series of conversations". A critical aspect of the “Advice Process” is documenting the decisions. This must be done effectively so anyone (a new employee or even the author 6 months later) can understand it.
My primary motivation for writing (see Blogging is hard) is envy:
Whenever I read a great article or book I’m always envious of the writer’s talent. It’s like watching an athlete: you know how great they are by how easy they make extraordinary feats look.
This post is a great example of one of my (many) writing challenges: procrastination! PG's original article was published in Feb. 2022 which was when I created the first draft. Over the last 3 years (!) I've made sporadic edits but for some reason didn't pull the trigger. Typical delay tactics include not being satisfied with the flow, content, or even minor sentence structure. A lot of times, just finding the right title can be a real challenge.
Anyway, one of my New Year's resolutions (all unspoken, until now!) was to blog more often. Just like exercising and eating better, this is easier said than done. I had an idea for a technical post (Emacs-related, of course), but that led me to old drafts like this one. If posting this is like the first visit after joining a gym, I guess we'll have to wait and see if I keep coming back!
Happy 2025! 🎉
