or “Writing as a Processing Medium”
Got an idea for something? That’s great. But having an idea is not the same as selling an idea. But why do you need to sell an idea, you cry?
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that to succeed in tech, it’s no longer enough to be merely proficient in technology. The most successful individuals are doing more than just the technical stuff well; they also read about management, leadership and organisational behaviour. Reading leads to thinking about it, and often this leads to writing about it too.
If you’re on the Rands Leadership Slack (or even if you’re not), you’ll come across industry leaders doing just that, and it’s honestly a good way to get ahead.
So, one of the most important things you can do is develop a writing habit.
And many will say “just write whatever comes into your head and you’ll eventually work it out”. I would temper that approach with a healthy attitude towards reading as well.
Technical literature itself is quite didactic, meaning it aims to teach you something. A framework, a tool, a series of steps you can take to improve your knowledge in a certain area, build a thing or persuade others that you know what you’re talking about.
Reading tech literature just by itself can be pretty dry and boring. You can spice it up by reading a few business manuals that also tell a story.
For example, books like The Goal or The Phoenix Project provide insight into specific business situations in a literary (story) setting.
For example, books like The Goal or The Phoenix Project provide insight into specific business situations in a literary (story-based) setting.
Shitty First Drafts
Once you have read, you will start to think. And when you start thinking there is no better way to find out how your thoughts are forming by writing about your subject. Once you understand, or think you understand, about something – explain it to someone else in your own words.
It can be tempting here to use GenAI to do your writing for you but this is just the same as asking GenAI to do your homework. You learn nothing from doing this. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with using GenAI to come up with ideas and help you with your prose. But let yourself do the thinking.
Once you’ve got what you think is a good first draft, (or as Anne Lamott calls them a “Shitty First Draft”) then you can start the process of reading and re-reading in order to improve your work. Editing is writing in many ways, it’s the time when your ideas take on your voice, and take on a life of their own.
Publishing Now or…?
Just because your first draft is shitty, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t become available to everyone. If you’re working on a blogging platform like WordPress, or you work on social media, then the experiment of publishing is always free. So why hesitate?
If you’re writing about something potentially controversial or difficult for some audiences to understand, then you would be advised to revise and edit thoroughly so that you cannot be miscontrued or taken out of context. This could be for a subject as simple as a technical approach or way of working, right up to how projects or programmes are managed or funded. Try to understand how your audience might react to your words and try to ensure that you’re not being deliberately antagonistic… or perhaps that’s your intention?
Either way, understand what your intentions are for this piece of writing. Is it to gain more credibility in a particular group of people, to stand out more for advancement at work, or simply to scratch that itch that you’ve had about a subject?
Writing as Therapy, Writing as Thinking
Writing allows you to vent frustration, to make connection and build confidence in your own abilities.
Whatever your reasons for writing, you should simply enjoy it. I’ve been blogging here for three and a half years. My posts were initially wild and off-topic, but as I’ve continued, I’ve grown alongside my writing. The subjects I’ve written about have both broadened and narrowed, but allowed me to express myself more effectively with every post.
Writing goes hand in hand with reading. Keep doing both and see where it can take you.