Becoming a Better Writer

Writing matters more as engineers move into leadership and broader influence, especially in remote and distributed teams. The article treats writing as work that often reaches more people than code, so clarity and concision become part of the job.

It recommends a repeatable process: reread from the reader’s perspective, cut filler, shorten sentences, use bullets and bolding with care, add visuals when useful, and ask for targeted feedback. It also suggests copying from strong examples, building weekly writing habits, and using tools and books to keep improving.

Reading notes

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• Writing becomes a baseline skill for engineering leadership, and many roles depend on it more heavily than before.
• Engineers, managers, and product managers often write a lot each day in messages, documents, reviews, and planning materials.
• Clear writing helps thoughts, tradeoffs, and decisions become durable and easier to share across teams.
• Good writing usually goes through drafting, editing, and feedback before it reaches readers.
• Editing starts with rereading as the recipient and checking tone, context, and accuracy.
• Longer writing should be broken into readable chunks, with unnecessary material removed.
• Shorter sentences, grammar checks, bullet points, numbering, bolding, and visuals can make technical writing easier to scan and follow.
• Writers should value the reader’s time and spend more effort on documents that will reach larger audiences.
• Feedback works best when questions are specific, and collaborative editors make that easier.
• Hiring an editor can help with external-facing writing, and some workplaces already have copyediting support.
• Automated tools like Hemingway Editor and Grammarly can improve readability, though their suggestions still need judgment.
• Improving writing also means studying strong fiction and collecting examples of good professional writing.
• Useful practice includes weekly updates, project summaries, meeting notes, proposals, design documents, and documentation.
• The article ends by recommending regular practice, continued learning, and a concrete plan for improving writing over time.