[deleted]
Please learn to write
21–30 of 124 posts
Re: Please learn to write
#22Everyone should learn to code. Everyone should learn to write. But we shouldn't necessarily aspire to become professionals in either.
English and Code are tools that are used by others to form the world around us. To understand these tools is to understand this world. To not understand these tools is to be at the mercy of the world's creators.
Knowledge is power; it is both the power to attack and the power to defend. Learn to write and learn to code, not to attack, but to defend yourself in this world.
Re: Please learn to write
#23Source of my problems:
design issues 5%
architecture constraints 5%
language shortcomings 1%
mental blocks 5%
personal time management 4%
personal energy 5%
communication with others 75%
This isn't a problem of education, country of origin, or any other demographic: almost everyone sucks at writing. It's a real problem.
I suppose the best antidote to poor writing is more writing, especially on-line. Don't be bashful because as OP says, your readers won't be.
Thanks OP for the one "please" post this week that everyone can benefit from. (Did I just end that sentence with a preposition? Need more practice.)
Re: Please learn to write
#24What's the difference between coders and the population at large? My thought is that it's the difference of problem granularity/scale/scope. In general, computer programmers are interested in solving bit-based problems, the rest of the population not so much.
That said, my opinion is that 'programming' in the broadest sense is a native capacity of humans and therefore is not special. If you haven't realized by now that algorithms == recipes == best practice methodolgies == etc. you're missing the forest for the trees: programming is systematic problem solving period. C# mavens aren't the only ones who program; we all do.
Re: Please learn to write
#25"On Writing Well" from W. Zinsser is one of the few books I've read multiple times over the years and probably the book I've recommended and loaned out the most.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-25th-Anniversary-Nonficti...
Anyone who runs a business, has a blog, has to communicate with other, or sends email should read it. Twice.
Re: Please learn to write
#26Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…
Making the online communications situation worse is the proliferation of "short" communication methods (ex: IM, Twitter, FB Status messages, etc.).
Written communication is naturally more challenging than face to face verbal communication. These "short" communication modes make things worse, opening up all sorts of possibilities for misinterpretation and miscommunication.
I felt so shackled by IM conversations, that I disabled GChat earlier this year. I've rediscovered the telephone and how superior it is when I really want to understand the other person. The only modes of only written communication I employ now are blog posts, forum posts, and emails. They all give me the opportunity to thoroughly review my words before setting them free.
Re: Please learn to write
#27[deleted]
Absolutely other fields use their "abilities to make their abilities easier". As a coders we live in abstractions and you should be seeing them everywhere. Writers work with words, but some smart writers invented sentences as tools to help structure them. Some other writers invented paragraphs to structure those sentences. Some even smarter writers invented novels, short stories, screenplays, etc. These are all tools…
It's been almost 15 years since my linguistics courses, but I'm pretty sure the spoken word (along with the grammars that bounded it) existed long before writing.
I also believe you drawing correlations between human languages and computer languages that don't exist. Computer language designers define syntax and grammar initially. Human language develops far more organically (to put it another way, where's the spec for American English?). Certainly, human language gets bounded by rules, but not in the same way as code does.
Re: Please learn to write
#28Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…
Making the online communications situation worse is the proliferation of "short" communication methods (ex: IM, Twitter, FB Status messages, etc.). Written communication is naturally more challenging than face to face verbal communication. These "short" communication modes make things worse, opening up all sorts of possibilities for misinterpretation and miscommunication. I felt so shackled by IM conversations, that…
I've tried both, and for coding-related stuff, I really dislike phone (or Skype), ranking it just about the worst possible option. I'd much rather IRC or IM, where at least we can exchange code and links and there's a bit of a scrollback buffer.
Twitter and FB status messages I put in a different category, because it's difficult to have a proper conversation with them. It's pretty easy to have a proper conversation on IRC, though, at least if all parties are text-chat-fluent.
Re: Please learn to write
#29"On Writing Well" from W. Zinsser is one of the few books I've read multiple times over the years and probably the book I've recommended and loaned out the most. http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-25th-Anniversary-Nonficti... Anyone who runs a business, has a blog, has to communicate with other, or sends email should read it. Twice.
Have this book, and couldn't agree more.
Re: Please learn to write
#30Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…
I learned to improve my writing quite a bit by using outlines that let me shift through levels of abstraction at will. I write long e-mails and blog posts using mind-mapping software. Being able to re-order my paragraphs & sentences, include or change examples, and step up and down different levels of detail has made it much easier for me to communicate the points I want to make. I've found that this helps even when I'm writing short e-mails or HN comments.
Admittedly my writing doesn't sound pretty. I'm okay with this. My e-mail chains end up much shorter than any other programmer/analyst I know and result in significantly fewer misunderstandings. That's what I call success.