Ask HN: Would you rather be a better writer or developer?

4 points by srednalfden 9 years ago | 3 comments

I read through some blog posts by Aaron Swartz and in one of them, which I can't find now, he wrote about wanting to be a good writer above being a good developer. If the choice had to be made and you could choose between being thought of as a good writer or a good coder, which would you choose? Why?

nickbauman 9 years ago |

I believe after a certain point in your development, to be a better engineer or a better writer you have to become a better person. A person who is truly and consistently nurturing and able to understand what others are going through. You master your own inherent narcissism. Becoming a better person is much, much harder than improving your skills in one area or another. It takes a change that must come from within. No one will guide you. No external motivation exists. No material reward.

Consider if Ernest Hemingway had never written a single line of prose, but showed up to a party hosted by anyone who visits these pages, it would be clear he would be the most interesting person in the room. Because of the life he lived and choices he made. The words, they're a mere side effect of a life lived deeply and fully.

This is why writers like Dave Eggers write about other people who have lived extraordinary lives (What is the What and Zeitoun). Because he grew up in relatively bland suburbia. He lost both his parents very young, and wrote about that but then what is he going to write about?

mattbgates 9 years ago |

I think I'd choose to be a better writer. And I say that because if you can write well, you understand syntax, structure, and poetry, and if you understand those, you can certainly become a better coder.

lioeters 9 years ago | |

I agree completely, because coding is a subset of writing - in many aspects.