Overall progress
0%
Phase 1
Months 1–2
Build the habit, find your voice
Before worrying about style or audience, you need reps. Most clunky writing comes from not writing enough. This phase is about volume with zero pressure to be good.
Write a daily brain dump
5–10 minutes of unfiltered writing each morning. No editing. The goal is to disconnect writing from performing.
Daily · 10 min
Read one essay per week
Pick writers with clear, direct styles. Paul Graham and Morgan Housel are great starting points for engineers who want to write with clarity and weight.
Weekly · 20 min
Study one piece you like — structurally
After reading, ask: how did they open? Where did they transition? What made it flow? You're reverse-engineering craft, not ideas.
Weekly · 15 min
Post 2x per week on Twitter/X
Short form first. One idea, one tweet. It's a low-stakes way to practice saying something clear in a tight space. No pressure to perform — just ship.
2× week · 15 min
Keep an "idea log"
A running note (Notion, Apple Notes, anywhere) of things you notice, opinions you hold, questions you can't stop thinking about. This becomes your content backlog.
Ongoing
Read "On Writing Well" by Zinsser
The single most practical book on non-fiction writing. Especially the chapters on clutter — this will directly fix what feels "clunky" about your current writing.
Month 1–2
Phase 2
Months 3–4
Learn to structure. Start publishing.
Once writing feels less painful, you need to learn how to take someone from point A to point B. This is where flow actually comes from — it's structure, not vocabulary.
Publish your first blog post
Write about something you understand deeply — a problem you solved, a concept you had to learn the hard way. Expertise is your unfair advantage over "writers".
Month 3
Learn the "spine" structure
Every good piece has a spine: a single idea it's really about. Practice writing one sentence that captures the spine of each piece before you write it.
Practice each piece
Write 1 LinkedIn post per week
LinkedIn rewards a different format than Twitter — a short story, a lesson, a take on something in your week. This is where professional opportunities come from.
Weekly · 30 min
Practice the edit pass
After a first draft, do one pass where the only goal is removing words. Cut every word that isn't doing work. This is the single biggest lever for flow.
Every draft
Read your writing out loud
Where you stumble, the reader will stumble. Where you breathe, the reader breathes. Out-loud reading reveals bad flow instantly — faster than any other technique.
Every draft
Build a "swipe file"
Save every opening line, transition, or closing that makes you feel something when you read it. These become patterns you internalize over time, not copy.
Ongoing
Phase 3
Months 5–6
Develop your angle. Grow intentionally.
Now you have a body of work. This phase is about sharpening what makes your writing specifically yours — and making it work harder for your career and brand.
Define your "beat"
What is the intersection you own? For example: "building products in Africa" or "the human side of engineering". A beat gives people a reason to follow you specifically.
Month 5 · One-time
Ship a "flagship" piece
A longer, more ambitious blog post — the kind you'd be proud to send to anyone. Spend 2 weeks on it. This becomes your best calling card when opportunities come.
Month 5–6
Repurpose everything
One blog post → 3 tweets → 1 LinkedIn post. You already did the thinking. Repurposing multiplies reach with minimal extra effort and makes the ideas stick.
Every blog post
Get external feedback
Share a piece with someone who will be honest — a peer, a mentor, or a writing community. What confused them? What did they want more of? External eyes accelerate growth fast.
Monthly
Audit your best and worst pieces
Look at what resonated and what didn't. Look at what you're proud of and what felt flat. Your own patterns will become obvious. Write down what you notice.
Month 6 · One-time
Write for a non-technical reader
Take one technical thing you understand deeply and write it for someone who knows nothing. This is the hardest and most valuable skill you can build as an engineer who writes.
Once per month
Resource library
One essay per week — read with a pen in hand, and ask: how did they open? where do they transition? what makes this flow?
Paul Graham · Clear thinking made visible
Writing, Briefly
His shortest, most direct advice on how to write well. Start here.
The Age of the Essay
What essays actually are — and why school taught you the wrong model.
How to Write Usefully
The four qualities of useful writing: importance, novelty, correctness, strength.
Putting Ideas into Words
Why writing forces clarity — and what that means for your thinking.
Morgan Housel · Simple ideas, deep weight
The Art of Changing Your Mind
Study the transitions — he makes hard pivots look effortless.
The Seduction of Pessimism
A masterclass in using a surprising idea as a hook. Pay attention to the opening.
How I Think About Debt
Watch how he takes a "boring" topic and makes it feel urgent and personal.
George Orwell · The gold standard for clarity
Politics and the English Language
The most important essay ever written about writing clearly. Read it twice.
Why I Write
Forces you to ask the same question of yourself. Your answer will shape everything.
Julia Evans · Technical writing with warmth
Advice for Aspiring Tech Bloggers
Honest, practical, written by someone who built a massive audience purely by writing well.
Some Blogging Myths
Kills the excuses before they start. Short and useful.
What Are Good Excuses to Write About Something?
Great for when the idea log feels empty. Practical prompts for engineers.
Maggie Appleton · Narrative non-fiction craft
David Perell · Writing for an online audience
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online
Dense and useful. Covers building a "personal monopoly" — essential for your brand goals.
The Four Kinds of Luck
Study this one structurally — it's a great example of how to build an argument that doesn't feel like an argument.
Phil Eaton · What makes a great technical blog
Don't try to read all of these at once. Phase 1 book is non-negotiable. The rest are for when you're ready to go deeper.
Phase 1 · Start here
On Writing Well
The single best book on non-fiction writing that exists. Chapter 2 on "Clutter" will directly fix what feels clunky about your current writing. Not free, but worth every cedi. ~$12 on Amazon.
Find on Amazon →
Phase 1 · Optional but powerful
Bird by Bird
The most human book about the writing process. The chapter on "shitty first drafts" alone is worth the read — it will free you from the perfectionism that kills most writers.
Find on Amazon →
Phase 2
Several Short Sentences About Writing
Unconventional and short. Specifically about sentence-level craft and how to make each sentence earn its place. This is the flow problem, treated at the most granular level.
Find on Amazon →
Phase 2 · Free
The Elements of Style
Old and short. The writing rules are still correct. Free online in many places — this is the 80-page book everyone quotes. Read it in one sitting.
Free PDF →
Phase 3
The Sense of Style
A modern update to Strunk & White, written by a cognitive scientist. Goes deep on why certain sentence structures work on the brain and others don't. For when you want to understand the science behind flow.
Find on Amazon →
Phase 3 · Optional
Show Your Work!
Short and visual. About building an audience by sharing your process — the philosophy behind why writing as an engineer is a superpower. Read it in 2 hours.
Find on Amazon →
Most of what you need is free. The paid options below are included because they're genuinely among the best that exist — not filler.
Free email course
7 Lessons to Write Online
A 7-day email course. Covers personal monopoly, building an audience, and publishing consistently. Sign up and do one lesson a day.
Free videos
David Perell's Writing Workshops
Free recorded workshops including a 100-min deep dive on Twitter writing and a walkthrough of his long-form writing process. Highly practical.
Free courses index
160+ Free Writing Courses
The most comprehensive index of free writing courses online. Useful when you want to go deep on a specific skill like structure, voice, or editing.
Free guide
Ultimate Guide to Technical Blog Posts
Practical and engineer-focused. Covers how to pick topics, structure a post, and write for a specific audience. Directly applicable to your blog.
Paid · ~$4,000
Write of Passage
The best cohort-based writing course for online writers. Expensive, but alumni include some of the most successful online writers. Worth saving for if the free resources leave you wanting more structure and community.
Things to remember when this gets hard
- Flow is a structural problem, not a vocabulary problem. When writing feels clunky, look at the shape of the piece, not the words.
- The first draft is supposed to be bad. Separating drafting from editing is one of the most freeing things you can do as a writer.
- Your engineering background is an asset, not a liability. You're trained to think clearly and explain complex things. Most writers aren't.
- Consistency beats quality for the first 6 months. Publishing something decent every week beats publishing something great every quarter.
- Reading is training. Every hour you spend reading good writing is an hour spent learning what good writing feels like from the inside.