shortridge, 2 months ago

one day I will write a, “here are the top ~7 ways to dramatically improve your technical writing” guide for engineers.

because passive voice influences clarity, not just style, and even adds friction for neurodivergents who can’t stomach extended slogs through passive voice without their attention drifting.

eg “A review will be performed before project launch so readiness is assessed.” Who will perform the review?? Often the answer is “we don’t know”; passive voice is pernicious like that.

lita, 2 months ago

@shortridge ughhhh I resonate with this so much. WHO?!? My mind needs tactical information.

lita, 2 months ago

@shortridge I mean if you need to be anonymous and avoid blame. Sure. Fine. But that should not be the norm.

shortridge, 2 months ago

@lita I love your framing of it as “tactical information”! Can I borrow that (with attribution) if I end up writing the post?

lita, 2 months ago

@shortridge @lita yeah! Go for it!!

byjp, 2 months ago

@shortridge That article definitely needs to be written, you should!
I was planning on writing a similar one about how to write an actual problem statement, rather than a thinly disguised inversion of your pet solutions’ benefits 😅

narthur, 2 months ago

@shortridge I encourage developers to read https://monzo.com/tone-of-voice/, especially the part about monkeys. It helps a lot.

shortridge, 2 months ago

@narthur my go-to is “by zombies,” but monkeys totally works, too

xahteiwi, 2 months ago

@shortridge I appreciate the "putrefied by passive voice" irony! 🙂