Write about someone else’s writing

A pessimist, optimist and realist are talking about writing. Last time they discussed writing about an industry report which led them to realise they could just write about anything that’s written by someone else.

Pessimist: Why on earth would someone want to hear what I have to say about what someone else wrote? Isn’t that just too meta? I should be original in my writing and not rely on someone else’s work. I also don’t want to be accused of copying them.

Optimist: I’m not sure I agree with you on that. Writing about someone else’s writing is a great way to amplify that person. It shows that we can support each other in a positive way. Other people’s words can spark ideas which lead us to articulate our own thinking. It’s a great springboard for exploring key concepts and experiences and for increasing the visibility of the original author.

Realist: I get that, yes, and it’s also ok to disagree with someone else's writing – and write about that. If done in an encouraging and collaborative way it can help the original writer see something that perhaps they hadn't spotted. Or, they might just outright disagree and it may just confirm their position. Either way, folks who are willing to write about someone else’s writing offer plenty of advantages.

A tech community like the MoTaverse helps us discover important models. The Agile Testing Quadrants, Squad Health Check model, PQIP, to name but a few. And models are a good thing to write about. More on that in a Moment.

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This Moment is part of the "Things to write about in the MoTaverse"