Write with maximum effortWrite with maximum effort<br>By Pete Gleeson on July 20, 2026<br>The effort taken to write something should be about the effort to read it.

Written communication works when effort is balanced:

High effort writing, high effort reading: Perfect

Low effort writing, low effort reading: Fine

When effort is unbalanced, we’re in a bad place:

High effort writing, low effort reading: Sad

Low effort writing, high effort reading: Scream

Low effort writing has never been easier. Reader screams have never been louder.

Let’s look at the balancing act of written communication.

Perfect: high effort writing, high effort reading

The author and reader have spent equally hight effort to write and understand one another.

Examples: A page that teaches you something. A makes-you-think type blog. A tight pull request with every line of code sweat.

This is the best written communication gets. Both author and reader have struggled. Author seen by reader. Humanity +1.

Fine: low effort writing, low effort reading

If your workplace goes heavy on chat apps, you live here.

Examples: An update written to no one in particular. A side eye on a second monitor. A passing thumbs up react.

The stakes are low and everyone’s efforts are adjusted accordingly. Readers and writers wallow at a low effort equilibrium. These interactions don’t make the dinner time conversation. That’s okay.

Sad: high effort writing, low effort reading

The author put much more effort into writing the reader skimmed.

Examples: A hard won pull request silently approved. A thoughtful page lacking commentary. Nuance going unappreciated.

The writer’s effort has not been reflected by the reader. The balance is skewed. Writing effort is calibrated downward. The trudge toward the bottom continues. Somewhere a butterfly dies.

Scream: low effort writing, high effort reading

The worst case is when reading takes more effort than writing.

This was easy to avoid because low effort writing was crap. You started reading something, it was bad, and you stopped.

Determining whether something is crap is getting harder. Crap is now well-shaped, has sentence structure, and passes your test suite. But it’s still crap.

These new disguises obscure the effort signals for the reader. A large pull request, a detailed document, a long message. Previous indications of high effort writing deserving of attention.

You start reading. Then a growing feeling of suspicion. A raised eyebrow. A furrowed brow. Finally, a scream as the realisation dawns too late.

You’ve locked in on low effort crap.

Balance the efforts

I appreciate when people indicate how much effort has gone into writing. “I went deep on this” or “I scratched these down during the meeting,” helps me engage with the right effort.

I doubly appreciate the hint when AI was involved. “Here’s what Claude says, here’s what I think” or “this was largely an AI job” on a pull request. Like a villain unmasked. Now I can stop playing Sherlock Holmes AI detective and actually read what’s in front of me.

Write with maximum effort. In the best case, your writing finds enthusiastic readers. In the worst case, take satisfaction in a good hard try.

You’ve written in your voice, you’ve written your best code, you’ve not made anyone scream.