Even in the early days of computer programming, in the good ol' assemblah days, there were the beautiful programs, and there were the ugly ones. So compare one's code to writing never was a stretch. And nowadays as programming languages become progressively more humane, let alone human-readable, this analogy goes even further.
Think about the beauty of code. This is not merely a subject of personal preference - it's the clarity of thought, and expressiveness of idea. The state of art in software development management is the manifold of Agile methodologies, and Agile is all about using code as the primary tool of communication. And when we walk this way, it's obvious to think of the code not as a mere set of instructions, but rather as a novel of some sort!
And of course this novel should be understood by both another software developer, and the computer! But while the computer has nothing but to comprehend this novel's logic, the "another software developer" - which could be You after about a week of not seeing this code - should also enjoy it!
Yet there is not so many natural-born writers out there - I mean people who naturally can write good! Most of us (rest of us) don't. And programming is a strange case of vocation where bad writers could get away, or even thrive! The reasons for it are abundant, and complex, so let's just take it as a fact.
So what do we do in such situation? The answer is simple - write more! Take a writing class, or read more. Read fiction - it's a good example of Interesting text!
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