Why being a good writer matters

After joining Coinbase in January 2022, I had to exercise my writing skills, more specifically, my technical writing skills. People in the company are really, really good at writing. This article captures the essence of why this matters and how to get better at it. A lot of this was inspired from this excellent article from Arnaud Brousseau who is an amazing writer.

Why writing matters

In a world of chaos, of information overload it is so easy to become overwhelmed. Too much to hear, to learn, to read; simply put : to digest. I specifically talk below about short form writeups (2 pagers, 6 pagers, technical design, product requirements, program charters). I do not talk about documentation (how to use the code) which, in my opinion, has different attributes.

Writing is good for you :

• From Chaos to Clarity - Writing in a process. You’ll start with a blank page, and are forced to organize your thoughts. You will type way more words than what will finally remain on the page. That is ok.
• A process that sticks - Practicing writing will become a habit. For example, a problem keeps coming again and again and is being discussed and rediscussed in a meeting. Write a doc that capture the essence of the problem, its boundaries, the options ahead of us. Then circulate this document to anyone who is involved, worried or can bring substance in its articulation.
• Bullet points maniac - First English is not my primary language. Second, I am very analytical, and like to get straight to the point. Therefore, in the past my writing has been very much in the form of bullet points. Bullet points are ok, as long as they don’t confuse the reader or make a long list of the possible options, without making a call.

Writing is good for others :

• The essence of async communication - In the world of remote work, you have to write to convey your point of view, your ideas, your plan,…
• A writeup as the backbone of a meeting - Many meeting are so much more productive when a document supports the discussion. The document will become the artefact through which the group will mature a topic, discuss async and perfect the plan.
• A persistent trace - A good writeup will be found, referenced, linked by others. All this will make it even more discoverable.

Writing limits:

• Obsolescence - True, a document become obsolete. That is ok, as long as there is a clear description and expectation of what the intent was.

Getting unstuck writing

I have a standing running document to do the following:

• Plan my week - Build every Monday, the list of the more important things I have to achieve in the week
• Reference other writeups - I add links to relevant documents in here
• My writeup Sketchbook - I start some very small writeup here. For example, summarizing a problem in a form of a table, draft several options. Most of this content will just stay private to me, but once in a while this will turn into a document I will share with a broader audience. The benefit of this approach is that I never ask myself “should I start a document”. I have a place to start, and get to decide later what to make with it.

Resources to become a better writer

Below are a few good resources to improve. Remember, it is a process and you will only get better by practicing.

• Google has a fantastic curriculum which I had a chance to experience with a group of peers.
• Arnaud’s Blog post