Please learn to write

Many people are commenting that writing improves with practice, and that's true, but it probably isn't enough. The 10,000 hours count only if they're done well. I'm not a writer but here are some basics I've found helpful.

1. Revise constantly. If you haven't revised it three times you almost surely haven't done enough. You don't need an outline, but as you write new thoughts will occur to you, previously open questions will be answered, opinions of priorities will shift. Writing in the Rubber Duck school of programming to the nth degree. All that you discover you already knew should be completely reflected in the final document. This is a very painful thing, you can spend hours on something and be "almost done" when you realize the key question on which all depends, the answer to which requires a complete rewrite of the document.

Note that "revision" often means changing the purpose of the document. You can go from reporting status to asking about key variables driving that status. Text may not be the right medium for the new message.

2. Edit ruthlessly. Everything can be shorter. The time you take clarifying and shortening saves your readers that much and more -- since you, not they, are best positioned to solve the puzzles posed by an obscure sentence, and to summarize an overly long one. If your readers number more than one, the time savings are multiplied.

3. Be very clear in your terms, meanings and references. If they aren't clear, explain them. Did that explanation just blow up your document's organization? Time to revise. Be precise. Your audience does not have your perspective -- your local environment variables are not theirs -- you need to orient them to the topic before you can expect casual references to be meaningful.

4. Much business writing requires an imperative style. At the top, tell your reader the action or decision expected / hoped for of them at the end of the document, and tell them what you will talk about. As you provide information, keep it in relation to the action expected of them. If there is no relation, what is it doing here? If it must be in here, why? and what are the implications for the stated purpose of the document? Is it time to revise again?

At the end of the document, give them detailed instructions about what they should do next -- call at this number, email that address, provide these thoughts, whatever.

Good training in writing is available and worthwhile. If you really want to get better, seek it out.

The liberal arts need to be valued more highly. 'Nough said.

All dependent on context. In the context of a team, one can rarely solve all problems by herself. More importantly, it can cause greater disfunction when work isn't coordinated/communicated appropriately. The whole point of working in a team is to get more work done more efficiently because the work load is shared and each member focuses on her specific skill, and doesn't do everything.

Maybe the thought of people who do know how to communicate, such as Mayor Bloomberg, learning to code is bothersome to Jeff Atwood. If so, consider why.

My concern is that Bloomberg is just looking for money. He may have no interest in how a computer works.

If he could code, what sort of programs would he write?

For example, with respect to the desktop and the web, many "coders" write programs that are a constant game of manipulation of naive end users. The moral issues raised in programming are seemingly endless. It's relatively rare to find a programmer with a social conscience. Mainly because few people with a social conscience know how to program.

Would people like Bloomberg bring a greater sense of social conscience to programming? Or would they worsen the situation?

On the flipside, having more people be more familiar with programming might reduce the amount of manipulation that is possible. More people might start demanding and reading source code. That could be a positive force.

I've found some of the best training available is in discussing controversial subjects (like religion) with a mixed, but curious and respectful, group. The biggest drawback is that it's hard to find such an audience.

One of the best forms of training this circumstance provides is immediate feedback any time you fall short. If you're not clear in your terms, meanings, and references people will respond with misunderstandings. If you're too verbose, they may not respond at all. If your writing is poorly structured, they will be confused as to what point you were trying to make. And if you do a good job, you'll get meaningful and interesting comments and criticism, which will help you refine your ideas and be better able to write about them in the future.