Writing

Mental Attitude While Learning

Distinguish Mere Facts From Conclusions or Opinions

Discriminate between mere statements of facts, necessary conclusions which follow therefrom, and mere opinions which they seem to render reasonable. There’s no need to perform an experiment to verify that the atomic weight of oxygen is 16. That the sum of the angles of a plane triangle equals two right angles is not a mere fact, but an inevitable truth.

MUST and MUST NOT; On Writing Documentation

• Revise documentation, many times, and on separate days to catch confusing parts.

• Beware of ambiguities, e.g. X may not do Y. Refer to definitions, e.g. RFC 2119 .

• Put yourself into different roles, e.g. the person just looking for samples, the person who wants to read up on every nook and crany, the person who has no technical background etc.

• You need to develop a broad spectrum of style and then be able to move from one end of the spectrum to the other as occasion demands.
• You’ll develop a basic style but inability to diversify is being like a baller with a drive but no jump shot.
• Questions to ask: What am I writing about? Who will read what I’ve written? Why did I write it?

• Complement the techniques with a serious and workable writing program.
• Learn to read with an eye to style. Copy the passage out, then write a structurally similar version on a different topic.