Many aspiring software engineers believe that coding prowess alone paves the way to success. After all, technical degrees often prioritize algorithms, data structures, and programming languages over, say, English composition. However, the reality of a software engineer’s career, especially in today’s fast-paced and collaborative environment, reveals a surprising truth: writing is an indispensable skill. It’s not just about crafting elegant code; it’s about communicating effectively, articulating ideas, and documenting solutions – skills that are increasingly vital, whether you’re aiming for that next promotion or even preparing for challenges like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge. While the challenge itself is about coding, the broader career and the skills to succeed long-term rely heavily on your ability to write.
My own journey in software engineering is a testament to this. Despite graduating without a single formal English class, writing has become a cornerstone of my career. A compelling cover letter landed me my second internship. A well-crafted cold email secured my first job at a promising startup. Later, as an engineering team lead, I hired individuals who were already familiar with my work through my blog. And in 2020, recognizing the growing demand for developer-focused content, I transitioned from a CTO role to establish a technical writing business.
While my path might be somewhat unique, the importance of writing for software engineers is widely recognized. An IEEE article highlights this, noting that engineers spend a significant portion of their workday writing, and this proportion only increases with seniority:
“In their first few years on the job, engineers spend roughly 30% of their workday writing, while engineers in middle management write for 50% to 70% of their day; those in senior management reportedly spend over 70% and as much as 95% of their day writing.” – Jon Leydens as cited in The Writing Engineer
The shift towards remote work has further amplified the importance of written communication. Upwork’s Future of Work Survey revealed that communication challenges were a major hurdle for remote teams, cited by 30% of respondents. In a distributed environment, clear and concise writing becomes the backbone of effective collaboration.
Software Engineering: A Team Sport Requiring More Than Just Code
For those new to the field, the image of a software engineer might be one of a solitary coder, headphones on, immersed in lines of code in a quiet room. While coding is undoubtedly a core component, the reality is that software development is a highly collaborative endeavor. A significant portion of the job involves deciding what code to write and how to write it – decisions that necessitate teamwork, communication, and alignment across business, technical, and interpersonal considerations. Building any substantial software project requires a symphony of efforts.
As Ben McCormick, Engineering Manager at Kustomer, aptly puts it:
“Every industry has truths that are obvious to those who have spent time working in the industry, but may be surprising to those on the outside. One such truth for software engineers: our jobs involve an awful lot of writing.” – Ben McCormick, Engineering Manager at Kustomer
Most software projects that reach production are the result of collective work by large teams. Effective communication is the glue that holds these teams together. Whether you’re crafting technical documentation, providing feedback on a teammate’s pull request, outlining a new project proposal, or answering a question on platforms like Stack Overflow, writing becomes a daily activity for a software developer. Even participating in coding challenges, like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge, often involves written explanations of your approach or solutions.
How Honing Your Writing Skills Can Propel Your Developer Career
While writing proficiency might be considered a fundamental expectation in many software development roles, it’s often overlooked as a skill to actively cultivate for career advancement. It’s easy to get caught up in learning the latest frameworks and languages, but investing in your writing skills can be a surprisingly effective strategy to accelerate your career and distinguish yourself in the competitive tech landscape. Think of it as adding a powerful tool to your arsenal, one that complements your coding abilities and enhances your overall professional profile, making you a stronger candidate even for opportunities related to events like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge.
To delve deeper into this, I spoke with eight experienced software developers to understand how writing has specifically contributed to their career progression. Their insights, combined with my own experiences, revealed five key benefits of writing for software engineers.
1. Writing Solidifies Learning and Deepens Understanding
The tech world is in constant flux. Software engineers are perpetual learners, continually absorbing new technologies and concepts. The latest Stack Overflow developer survey highlights this, with 75% of respondents reporting that they learn a new technology at least every few months or annually.
Educators have long recognized the power of writing as a learning tool. The developers I spoke with echoed this sentiment, emphasizing how writing reinforces their understanding of new concepts. Moreover, public writing offers the added advantage of potentially educating other engineers, solidifying your own knowledge in the process.
Daniel Phiri, Developer Relations at Strapi, emphasizes this point:
“Writing code to solve a problem is one thing, but explaining that solution to a community of developers on the internet is another. You want to make sure you absolutely know what you’re saying; which means research, lots of research!” – Daniel Phiri, Developer Relations at Strapi
Eze Sunday, a software developer and freelance writer, succinctly adds, “if you can’t teach it, then you don’t really know it.” This echoes the sentiment that explaining a concept in writing forces you to truly understand it.
Personally, I’ve always favored writing blog posts over traditional note-taking as a learning method. While many of these posts didn’t reach a wide audience, they served as invaluable tools for solidifying my understanding of new technologies and tools. Adam DuVander, a developer, consultant, and author, offered similar advice:
“Look back at your most recent commits. Pick a fun technical challenge you faced and share how you fixed it. If you do this every month or two, you’ll have more technical posts than almost any other working engineer.” – Adam DuVander
This consistent practice of writing about your technical experiences, even small ones, can significantly enhance your learning and create a valuable record of your growth, skills that are beneficial long beyond any single event like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge.
2. Writing Opens Doors to Jobs and Clients
Writing not only reinforces your knowledge but also serves as a powerful demonstration of your skills to potential employers and clients. It’s a tangible representation of your ability to learn, articulate technical concepts, and engage with the wider tech community. In a field where demonstrating practical skills is paramount, writing provides concrete evidence of your capabilities, far beyond a resume bullet point. This is especially relevant for early career engineers seeking to showcase their potential, even if they haven’t yet participated in specific events like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge.
Dan Moore, Head of Developer Relations at FusionAuth, highlights this:
“[Writing] is social proof of my ability to learn in public,” Dan Moore, Head of Developer Relations at FusionAuth told me. “My writing was instrumental in getting my first job in developer relations, as I met the company at a conference and was able to show them work examples.”
Adam DuVander recounts how writing literally launched his career:
“I owe my entire career to a couple of articles I wrote,” Adam DuVander told me. “A tutorial I wrote on Webmonkey led to my first developer job. They saw how I discussed the technology and knew before we even chatted that I could handle the work.” He further adds that writing played a key role in securing opportunities with ProgrammableWeb and throughout his career. “My whole career really all comes back to writing,” he said.
Stephanie Morillo, a technical program manager and author, shares multiple instances where writing paved her career path:
“I once got a full-time offer to join a cloud computing startup as a copywriter on the strength of a few blog posts I’d written. I wrote a few articles about tech culture in the mid-2010s and was able to secure conference speaking engagements from them. I was offered a role as a part-time technical writer for an open-source organization, and I even started doing freelance copywriting on the side for [software development] agencies.” – Stephanie Morillo
Software consultants John Gramila and Keanan Koppenhaver have similar stories of attracting new clients through their published articles on software engineering topics. Keanan emphasizes the importance of visibility: “People want to engage and want to reach out,” Keanan said, “but if you never put yourself out there with something you’ve written, you won’t see many of those opportunities.”
3. Writing Can Lead to Authoring Books and Public Speaking Platforms
In 2017, I embarked on a personal challenge to write daily. While the topics were diverse, a three-month focus on using PHP with Docker yielded unexpected results.
This led to the publication of a short book, conference speaking invitations, and numerous consulting inquiries over the years. Despite not considering myself an expert in PHP or Docker, the scarcity of public content on these topics made my work stand out. This highlights that even niche technical writing can create significant opportunities, showcasing your expertise beyond just coding skills, and demonstrating a well-rounded profile that’s valuable even when considering participation or learning from events like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge.
Dan Moore experienced a similar trajectory, transforming his blog posts into a full-length book, Letters to a New Developer. James Hickey, a Senior Software Engineer and Microsoft MVP, also credits writing for opening doors: “I have had many people reach out to me about doing contract work simply by reading my blog and had many offers to write books in the last couple of years.”
Adam DuVander underscores the career-differentiating nature of book authorship and public speaking: “Instead of competing with all other engineers, you become The Choice in your area,” he told me. “Write about it and if there’s enough business interest, you’ll find a great role.” These opportunities elevate your profile and establish you as a thought leader in your domain.
4. Writing Preserves Your Thought Process and Creates a Personal Knowledge Repository
Even if your current role restricts public sharing of your work due to intellectual property concerns, the act of writing itself holds immense personal value. Private writing, like journaling, can be a powerful tool for reflection, problem-solving, and knowledge management.
Stephanie Morillo advocates for journaling: “Journaling gives you the opportunity to write without being self-conscious because you’re not writing with an audience in mind; you’re doing it for yourself.”
Dan Moore highlights the clarifying nature of writing: “Writing serves as a historical record, but more importantly it clarifies your thoughts. I often write down a question or issue I’m facing and find that I see new avenues for exploration.”
Documenting your thought process at a specific point in time is invaluable, as your understanding and approaches evolve. I’ve often revisited past ideas and engineering challenges, finding that each time I write about a topic, my arguments and perspectives become sharper and more refined. This iterative writing process mirrors the iterative nature of software development itself. Just as Fred Brooks famously noted that “the first system built is barely usable,” the initial piece you write on a subject is often less compelling than subsequent iterations. This continuous refinement through writing is a powerful tool for intellectual growth and problem-solving, skills that are broadly applicable, from day-to-day tasks to preparing for complex challenges, even indirectly benefiting your approach to something like the 2021 Twitter Early Career Software Engineering Coding Challenge.
5. Writing Unlocks New and Diverse Career Paths
Possessing both writing and programming skills expands your career horizons significantly. Whether you’re seeking a change of pace, experiencing burnout, or simply exploring new avenues, developers who can write have a wealth of alternative career paths available.
Adam DuVander emphasizes the breadth of options:
“The options are almost infinite, but include product, technical account management, marketing, sales engineering, and more. You can combine your authentic technical background with the ability to communicate it in a role where those skills are both much needed and rare.” – Adam DuVander
While alternative paths like technical writing or developer relations might not always match the earning potential of pure software development, they offer competitive salaries and substantial career growth opportunities. For developers seeking a change or facing burnout, these hybrid roles provide fulfilling and impactful alternatives. Knowing these options exist offers a valuable sense of career flexibility and resilience.
Getting Started on Your Writing Journey
Writing is no longer a peripheral skill for software engineers; it’s a core competency, especially crucial in today’s remote-first world. You don’t need to launch a public blog immediately to begin. Start small. Contribute answers on Stack Overflow, craft insightful Twitter threads, maintain a personal journal, or invest extra effort in improving your company’s internal documentation. These are all excellent starting points to cultivate your writing skills.
If you’re ready to start blogging, platforms like Medium, Dev.to, and Hashnode offer developer-friendly environments. For those interested in getting paid to write, numerous technical blogs actively seek contributors.
Regardless of your chosen path, the most important step is to begin writing. And as you embark on your writing journey, share your experiences. Let me know about your progress on Twitter. I’d be excited to follow along and support your growth!
