Fire and Motion

As is the norm now, Joel Spolsky has published another good article. It is the same article he has written a 100 times, just on a new topic. The topics are always interesting and insightful, always something that gets you thinking; however, I don't think that is what has lead to his popularity... it is the formula he uses. First, he is a good writer, he does cool things with the English language. This is the first step in any good article, if it isn't well articulated no one will care what you are talking about. Second, he talks about something complex in a simple analogy. He usually picks a good analogy, one that is related to his life, and that people can relate to. This makes people understand and be able to think about what he is talking about. Finally, he ends on a good note. You come away from the article thinking, "wow, that was really cool!"... but try not reading the last 3 sentences and see how your opinion differs. If this method wasn't covered in the technical writing course, it should be.

Cheers.