Constructing Worlds: Why Every Coder is Already a Writer
Somehow promoting my product has converted me into a full-time writer (exaggeration). That's absurd, right? I didn't plan to become an author. I am a maker. I do stuff. I don't like to talk about it. Talk is cheap. I have invested half of my life learning to make complicated worlds kind of work, and now I have to come back to plain English? Imagine you had learned to drive a spaceship and now you are back sitting in this old car, pressing the clutch and changing gears.
But still, writing code is an act of communication as much as writing is. Many fellow coders don't treat it like that, but they should. Coders compose worlds. Coding is about communicating with other coders or your future self. The way you express your program is a combination of experience, ideas, and opinions on how to structure processes and flows. There are countless opportunities and decisions on how you would express and solve the task at hand. Coders can and should be considered writers.
That's why I expect myself to be able to communicate my thoughts clearly in prose. If I can't do it in plain English, how can I expect myself to do it in code? In a way, these two go hand in hand. If writing is walking in the park, coding is riding a broken bicycle while drunk. So what am I? I am in the business of communicating ideas, constructing worlds, understanding workflows, and ultimately understanding my potential users, other people. Because not only am I a coder, I also sell a product. Other humans will use it. Both development and promotion are a unified process of throwing what once was in my head back into the world.
As a coder, I consider writing and promoting my product a chore. Something that doesn't suit my personality and the way my brain works. But as I dive deeper into it, I realize that maybe I am wrong. Maybe writing and expressing myself in English is exactly what I need. Deconstructing my vision and trying to get it across is like doing psychotherapy in public. I will certainly not be going to share my darkest thoughts, but I am going to be part of this evolutionary exchange of ideas and feelings.
So yeah, I am a full-time writer. I just don't accept it yet.
It was interesting to read your perspective on this. I don't know if it's exactly related, but it reminded me of something I struggle with, which is the blurring line between marketing and product development.
In my mind, marketing is the act of promoting a product or service, but it's also a way of eliciting feedback and understanding market needs. It's a 2-way street in that sense. You communicate outwards and receive communication inwards, process it all, then start the loop all over again, and that in turn drives business strategy and product development.
The problem is when I think like this, even as an exercise, I find it hard to develop a marketing plan without trying to invent entirely new systems and tools to support it. In that sense, everything is connected to marketing in one way or another. Maybe it all is. Or maybe that's just my bias approaching things from a marketing perspective.
But it's like you said, even coding is communication, and maybe that's because it conveys intent and is a product of the coder's intent.
In the end, building software products and selling them seem to be like you said, 2 interconnected parts of the same whole. I guess it's up to us to decide how we want to manage them and hopefully find a balance that works and fits our individual styles.
I find the way that you put it very clear and useful. Indeed promoting and product development can be part of the same loop. And I think it's "the way" to go.
Regarding your "problem", tell me if I get it correctly. You mean that because you are more on the marketing side, each time you are starting a campaign let's say, you dedicate more time than you want on developing your methods? You feel that creative urge and spend more time on how you will do it instead of doing it?
That's definitely my main issue! It's the classic case of perfection being the enemy of the good.
Another issue is the matter of scoping. The way I keep thinking is that, I can't do my best marketing unless I have the 'best' product. But that's rarely the case and also very subjective so it's a fool's errand that'll never be completed.
Intuitively, I know the product is probably good enough already, and with proper marketing would be an attractive offer to a customer, but the impulse to keep trying to make things better (before even making anything concrete) is a big issue for me.
Surprisingly, reading things from a developer's perspective like yours has been helping me lately slowly overcome this way of thinking. So thank your for sharing!
This is a beautifully articulated reminder that coding isn't just about logic and syntax — it's about storytelling. As developers, we're constantly shaping worlds through the structure of our code, the clarity of our documentation, and the flow of user experiences we design. Much like writers, we have to consider our audience, communicate ideas effectively, and make complex systems approachable. Recognizing ourselves as writers helps us embrace empathy, creativity, and clarity — all crucial traits in building meaningful software. Thank you for highlighting this connection. It’s inspiring to re-frame development not just as a technical task, but as a narrative craft.
Empathy is the word. You can't have empathy towards a machine. Once you realize that your code is not about the machine, empathy kicks in. For me it transformed the way I code. An it's not a profound realization. Most people realize it. But when you really start evaluating your code based on the future reader, everything changes.