Context

Engineers - write more text

Tue, Apr 27, 2021

When I write text I work hard to avoid being too terse. I’ve learnt the hard way that for me it’s very difficult to write too much. My natural level is very terse. So what feels like too much to me is often not nearly enough.

So I try to write more. I write not only about what I’m doing, but why I’m doing it. I try to explain not only what my changes are, but what existed before, and what might make sense in future. I try to be explicit about what I know and also about what I don’t know.

I deliberately repeat myself. I intentionally state things again in another way. That gives people another opportunity to understand what I meant. It can make the document easier to read.

By providing context for my communications I help people remember what they already know about my topic. By providing extra information I either inform my audience, or build their trust by demonstrating shared knowledge. If I tell them some facts that they know to be true, they’re more likely to trust me on the facts they don’t know.

Context helps your audience read your text. Context builds trust. Writing more text may just help you get to do things you want to do, because people will trust you to do it.

Write more text.