Ask HN: Do you write stories?

[foxfired]

Being a programmer for a few years now, I have come to realize that no matter how beautiful I try to make my code look, if no one else can understand it there is no point in doing so.

What I lacked was communication and writing skills. So I started a blog where I force myself to write no matter how boring my subject may be.

However after doing it for a year now, I am starting to want to explore more than just writing technical things. On the side I have been writing short stories. It's a new thing for me but it is exciting. Some ideas that used to live briefly in my heads are now written down and they are not as incoherent as I thought the will be.

HN hackers/writers please share your stories.

[willstepp]

I have been writing fiction in my spare time on and off for years (work as a web programmer). I think the skill sets of programmers and writers overlap in interesting ways. To me software is about creating an interconnected system and a story can be looked at that way too. The parts that compose the machine are different, and the intention is different, but there is something about it that is fundamentally the same.

I primarily write novels, so I can't really share one here. :-) But I have just created a tool to help me with my writing craftsmanship. Maybe other writers on HN will find it useful: http://writerkata.com.

[foxfired → willstepp]

Your tool is really cool. Thank you for sharing.