This Is Why Writing as Programming Benefits You.
By: Bryan Dijkhuizen
Tags: Technology, Life, Self, Programming, Writing

This Is Why Writing as Programming Benefits You.

Are you a design unicorn? I am now!

Photo by James Lee on Unsplash

I recently started writing as a developer that turned my life around, I must say.

As a developer, two skills determine if you are a coding unicorn or not, programming & visual designing. Still, I must say writing as an addition to this makes you a real all-round unicorn.

Nowadays, a lot of content is created, especially in video or photo (Instagram, Youtube, TikTok), but don’t underestimate writing. It’s a good skill to acquire.

“Words can be one of the purest forms of expressing one’s thoughts.”

I have learned that writing can increase your personal development. It teaches you to perfection your work (just as in web design) and delivers additional income.

Writing makes you better at communication.

This is an obvious one, of course, but that doesn’t make it less important. I’ve become much better at expressing my thoughts by writing a lot of articles. The right words are important. Once you start writing, that will automatically (with the practice, of course) improve a lot very quickly.

As a practical example, when you’re working, you probably have sent e-mails, and you might have experienced that as difficult sometimes, right? Well, by writing often, this can improve as well, and you’ll be familiar with different types of audiences.

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” ― Frank Herbert

The best part of writing is that your improvement is very measurable by comparing to pieces of writing from years 1, 2, 3, or even with months or weeks!

Improve your documentation.

One part of being a good developer is delivering quality documentation. This is the communication between technical requirements and specifications to other stakeholders. Knowing your audience is an important part of writing.

When you are working with ‘less-technical’ co-workers, being clear in explaining technical concepts and terms is crucial.

Besides, developers also have to communicate their work to other developers. This can be with variable naming, function names, or writing in-line comments.

Whenever writing documentation, it is important to make it as complete as possible.

Writing is similar to programming.

Wait? Writing similar to programming? Yes! It is, programming is conceptually straightforward. Everybody can learn how to program or create a website, and the same goes for writing. Everybody can ‘write.’

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” ~ Richard Bach

On the other hand, people also think that writing more of a creative skill than programming is. That programming is more involved science that requires a deeper understanding of the fundamental concepts. I disagree with that statement.

Programming requires creativity as well, and that’s why I see a lot of similarities with writing.

Writing is beautiful.

Every time I write a story, I feel like I am talking to myself or speaking to the class that I teach. It feels good to teach other people about the knowledge that I acquired in my life.

When writing, you can also improve your knowledge by being able to write about it. I try to let my thoughts ruminate by writing an article on what I’ve learned.

Writing is a great way to digest and process the information we take in.

Back in the days, when I was a little kid, I got a diary from my grandma as a gift for my birthday, and I started writing in it. That was nice at the time, but now I write about various topics and different niches.

But sometimes it feels good to return to that mindset and write about my life and feelings. When I write about my feelings, it feels like I’m talking to someone who always understands me.

Even if you’re a beginner to the world of writing, I recommend that you try sitting alone with your thoughts and let your mind go.

It’s amazing what you can think of to write down.

And to end this piece, I’d like to share a quote from my favorite author with you, John Grisham: