If Only I Could Write

As an engineer, technical skills come more easily to me. Writing clear, engaging content, however, is more challenging. My professional experience emphasized dry, factual, technical documentation rather than the approachable writing needed for a blog.

I've developed a semi-systematic approach to content for this website in an attempt to address this limitation. The process usually begins with me writing a section that captures the key points. Then, I initially use Grammarly's checking to clean up the writing and make it more concise and clear.

For more challenging sections, I've found value in asking AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude to rewrite my first attempt. By showing them my initial text and requesting alternative approaches, I can find new ways to present the same information. These tools serve as writing aids, helping me refine my content, but in most cases, the results typically use words and phrases that do not match my style or intent. So, I generally rewrite the AI's output to better match my intent. Then, I let Grammarly proofread the result for a final cleanup.

Although I will never write with the fluidity of a professional author, nor will I write nearly as quickly, this process helps ensure that my writing is understandable and more accessible to the reader.

Ironically, this post was written using the full process described in this post.