Ep. 38 | Writing for Developers with Piotr Sarna

Summary

In this episode of the Overcommitted Podcast, hosts Brittany, Bethany, and Erika engage in a deep conversation with Piotr Sarna, co-author of 'Writing for Developers.' They explore the journey of co-authoring a book, the importance of writing in engineering, and the challenges and joys of technical writing. The discussion also touches on the significance of blogging as a continuation of learning and sharing knowledge, as well as the role of writing culture in engineering teams. The crew kicks off the next book club, where the Overcommitted engineers will be reading Writing for Developers together over the next 2 months!

Takeaways

• Writing a book can be seen as a series of extended blog posts.
• There is a gap in resources for writing engaging blog posts for developers.
• Good writing in tech should have an educational aspect.
• Writing culture in engineering teams enhances clarity and collaboration.
• The book 'Writing for Developers' fills a niche in technical writing resources.
• Embracing cringe-worthy writing experiences is part of the learning process.

Links

• Piotr Sarna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarna-dev/
• Cynthia Dunlop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiadunlop/
• Piotr and Cynthia's first book: Database performance at scale: https://bookshop.org/p/books/database-performance-at-scale-a-practical-guide-cynthia-dunlop/f384c1f0d973803c?ean=9781484297100&next=t
• Writing for Developers book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/writing-for-developers-blogs-that-get-read-cynthia-dunlop/af343340c60cd806?ean=9781633436282&next=t
• Write that blog!: https://writethat.blog/
• Writing for Developers GitHub Repo: https://github.com/scynthiadunlop/WritingForDevelopersBook
• Discord community for Overcommitted: https://discord.gg/fxvEjs7f

Hosts

• Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev
• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28
• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com
• Eggyhead: https://github.com/eggyhead