The Underrated Skill for Programmer

3 min read

Most developers would probably agree: writing isn't the first skill you learn when you start coding. You start with syntax, loops, conditionals, frameworks, and so on. But if you ask me now, after years of working on various projects, writing is one of the most underrated skills that turns out to be incredibly useful.

🧠 Writing Helps You Think More Clearly

Have you ever been stuck not because of a technical issue, but because your own thoughts were all over the place? Sometimes it's not that we don’t know how to solve something, but we’re not even clear on what we want to do.

That’s where writing helps.
When you write, you’re forced to organize your thoughts.
Writing is like debugging your brain.

Examples:

Planning a new feature → write down what it’s supposed to achieve.
Want to refactor code → note what to change and why.
Explaining a bug to your team → write it logically and clearly.

If you can write it clearly, it means you’ve thought it through. And that’s a super valuable skill in development.

🗣️ Writing Is Communication

As developers, we work with others: designers, PMs, QAs, users, and fellow devs. But they don’t always speak our "language".

Writing helps us communicate ideas, explain solutions, and propose changes better.

Real examples:

Writing a clear pull request description.
Creating internal documentation.
Answering questions on GitHub or Stack Overflow.
Giving feedback that’s actually helpful, not just “this is wrong.”

🧱 Writing Builds Your Portfolio

If you don’t have a fancy degree or a bunch of certifications, writing is a great way to show what you know.

By writing blog posts:

You share what you’ve learned.
You showcase personal projects.
You help others while building trust and credibility.

A portfolio isn’t just a list of GitHub repos. It’s how you think, solve problems, and communicate. Writing makes that visible.

🚀 Writing = Long-Term Investment

Your writing can be read while you sleep. It can help someone, make you more discoverable, and even open up new opportunities. Personally, I’ve had a few projects and connections come from blog posts that just happened to show up on Google.

And writing doesn’t need to be overly technical.
Just write like you’re talking to a friend.
Share what you’ve tried.
Share what went wrong and what you learned.

It gets easier with time.

Final Thoughts

Many developers are great at coding but struggle to communicate.
On the flip side, developers who can write clearly tend to stand out, earn more trust, and get remembered.

So if you’re learning to code, don’t forget to practice writing too.
Because writing is just another kind of code—this time, for humans.