[mishftw]

When I left high school for college (to pursue engineering) I was quite envious of my friends in the liberal arts - they were assigned papers all the time and I had no outlet for writing (something I enjoyed quite a bit).

I have realized that written/technical communication is a great differentiator.

I journal every day but specifically to your question I would say just start writing.

Knowing your audience is key. I usually include an executive summary section at the top of any design document or product requirements document for a high level view of why people should care. Then I dive into a background or history to give context. At the end of the day it's a narrative and follows similar arcs - just with more direct prose and specific facts. I'll also drop this resource here from the Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. [0]

[0]: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/software-engineer...

[bombcar]

Practice writing every day at all times.

Replying to an email? Do the short summary at the top, then write a paragraph or two about the reasons/details/etc - these are also great references.

Encounter an issue and solve it? Write up what it was and what fixed it on a wiki, blog post, even just an email to yourself.

Hacker news? Write comments that are detailed.

[jacksnipe]

Couldn’t agree more that narrative is the key. If you’re telling a compelling story (which can look very different for different audiences), you kind of get the rest for free, because you will have the reader’s attention.

[maxekman]

Love your tip of how to structure a text. Thanks!