This year, I published Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview and wrote 20+ technical blog posts (nilmamano.com/blog).
Here is technical writing advice:
1. Many technical concepts are better explained schematically/visually. So, master a technical drawing tool. Images also act as rest stops where readers can pause and breathe before diving in again (I made 190 drawings for BCtCI, about 1 every 2 pages).
2. Use LLMs to workshop your paragraphs. Paste one paragraph at a time and ask for feedback. Nothing beats *instant feedback* when it comes to improving! I can vouch for ChatGPT Plus.
3. Make sure not to use any LLMisms. No em dashes, no "It's not X, it's Y", no smart quotes. People are paranoid these days, and you'll burn their goodwill instantly.
4. Brevity. It matters at two levels:
4.1. Word economy: fewer words to say the same thing is better. Expressions like "Note that ..." or "It's worth noting that ..." can be removed, and nothing is lost. Same for words like "very", "just", and "really". I think LLMs are good at pointing out if you are verbose--see (2).
4.2. Pacing: people have short attention spans. Each paragraph should introduce something new & move the text forward. There's a communication rule that says "tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you told them." I think this is terrible advice for most technical writing today.
5. Use bullet points/lists. It's easier for the reader to mentally organize the text.
6. If your audience includes SWEs, don't shy away from including code. SWEs use code to ground the content they are reading.
7. Look for analogies. Amortized analysis is just making meals for the whole week on Sunday night.
8. Use memes. If you are writing about "X", google for "memes about X". Your piece will feel more accessible. It's a way of saying "don't worry, I'm not a boring, out-of-touch scholar."
9. Do passes of editing. After you're done and you think every paragraph is good, you should still read it again from top to bottom.
Did I miss anything?