Write Like A Programmer

Blog » I program computers and I also write. There is more than one way to program, but there are a few good practices in programming which have analogous good practices in writing. Here is how you write like a programmer.
The following is not necessarily advice.
 
First, write with purpose. Do not write just because. Don't write because you love writing, because you love reading your own writing, because you love other people reading your writing or because you love feedback. Instead, write because you have an objective. Your text is supposed to achieve something. Write because you want your writing to accomplish something, because you want your writing to have an effect on the reader.
In fact, flip those two things around in the phrase, in order to make the emphasis clearer: First, develop an objective. Discover that there is a story you want to tell, a particular piece of information you need to share, an emotional instant that you want others to experience, a particular reference wor...