291–300 of 385 posts
I have kept around and distributed multiple copies of The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, for the past few years (lots of revisions of this out there, 4th might be most recent iirc). It's like a 9$ book and the guidance is priceless. https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've taken the class within Amazon. Honestly there isn't anything that you couldn't get by simply reading and applying the advice from "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White[1] and "On Writing Well" by Zinsser [2]. The primary philosophy is that if you can't write well, then you haven't thought it through. The act of writing is an act of reasoning. 0. Practice in a strong feedback loop. This applies for anything…
#0 is correct. I'll recommend this piece on S&W [1] and specifically on point #5 [2]. These style guides, especially points #1 through #6, came about from bureaucrats who were essentially filibustering or otherwise obfuscating in their writing. The root problem there was not the long-winded writing, it was their intent to hide bad things. If you can make sure you're not carrying water for corrupt officials, you best…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In what sense is it under -valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
In the sense I've never seen any interview require a writing sample from a dev.
Writing well is an undervalued skill in life, not just in engineering. When you work on a team of peers with similar skills in your field, whether that field is engineering or something else, being able to write well and communicate well become strong differentiators. FWIW, I'm pretty sure that writing (reasonably) well online is what got me a job in venture capital after ten years as an engineer. David Perell (host…
In what sense is it under -valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
I have kept around and distributed multiple copies of The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, for the past few years (lots of revisions of this out there, 4th might be most recent iirc). It's like a 9$ book and the guidance is priceless. https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/...
If you've read Steven Pinker's book Sense of Style , I'd be interested to hear where it falls short in comparison to Elements of Style .
Writing well is an undervalued skill in life, not just in engineering. When you work on a team of peers with similar skills in your field, whether that field is engineering or something else, being able to write well and communicate well become strong differentiators. FWIW, I'm pretty sure that writing (reasonably) well online is what got me a job in venture capital after ten years as an engineer. David Perell (host…
In what sense is it under -valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
Writing well is an undervalued skill in life, not just in engineering. When you work on a team of peers with similar skills in your field, whether that field is engineering or something else, being able to write well and communicate well become strong differentiators. FWIW, I'm pretty sure that writing (reasonably) well online is what got me a job in venture capital after ten years as an engineer. David Perell (host…
I genuinely don’t know how to find one. Therapist-shopping is baffling.
I ask this as a software engineer who can produce pretty solid writing if given enough time but for whom doing so prompts thoughts of severe self harm. I was pushed to resign from my last job as a result of handing in a nearly-blank self-evaluation during my company’s performance review process, so I’m willing to spend... I guess up to $8k, (maybe more? Anything’s better than suicide to be honest. I love life in general and suppose it would be rational to spend half my income to eliminate the risk of it) On getting this finally solved after 2 decades of occasional agony.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In what sense is it under -valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
Which musical might I ask? Nothing comes directly to mind. A quick search doesn't yield any immediate results.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In what sense is it under -valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
It is undervalued in that a lot of engineers, especially early in their career/before they've worked at a real job, do not take it seriously enough. Time and time again, I have heard jokes in college about the social ineptitude of engineers, and I have seen people not value basic social skills. As people get older, these problems go away, but I really feel that we let new engineers down by letting them underappreciat…
Where is the brilliant.org for social/emotional/communication skills?
Social skills are presented as an obvious thing and the lack thereof is grounds for ridicule and derision rather than pointers to resources. (Note: How to win Friends and Influence people is a good base, but the Harvard Negotiation Project has many more good books. Also, Charisma on Command is a great youtube resource)
We have them be taught writing by literature majors who insist there’s some meaning to blue curtains but can’t be bothered to explain why or what the principles behind making that judgement are. (Note: a great explanation of how symbolism works can be found by putting “extra credits symbolism” into google)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In what sense is it under -valued? There is a fabulously popular musical about how the ability to write well can propel you to the heights of leadership of a nation. In my experience, people believe that the ability to write well is key to professional success. Where are the people who believe that writing is not a valuable skill?
In the sense I've never seen any interview require a writing sample from a dev.