This blog post caught my attention a few weeks ago. In my stressful haze of trying to finish a complex project in 8 weeks, I put off the making of this post a bit. Anyway, I urge you to read that blog post, then come back.
I think this format of blogging is applicable across the board. Short, insightful posts can act as the individual bricks building an extensive domain knowledge. Programming, weightlifting, writing: these are all disciplines requiring domain knowledge to succeed. It just so happens those are all disciplines I’m working to improve at.
For now, I’ll share a small tip I’ve used to improve effective writing. I write my blog posts in Sublime, and ensure that most sentences aren’t long enough to word wrap. I then copy from Sublime into an in-browser editor called Hemingway. It highlights hard-to-read sentences, use of passive voice, and adverbs. By highlighting, it makes you aware of your own writing habits.
If you use passive voice, lots of adverbs, or too much jargon, your message is not as strong as it could be. Mind you - if you know what you’re doing, the highlights are only a suggestion. As it applies to yet again many disciplines: Learn and play by the rules first. Only when you know the rules, and why they exist, should you start breaking rules.