At the end of last year, I was faced with the challenge of getting others on my team to start writing for our team blog.
Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. We have some keen writers on our analyst team, they just needed to get started.
If you are thinking of starting to blog this year there are some great resources here to help you make the move.
What can you write about?
Plenty.
If you can write release notes or a page full of useful technical documentation, it’s just as easy to write a blog post with some commentary about your project, something you’ve learned recently or some top tips you can share.
Project Releases
Blog posts go hand in hand with Project Releases as timely commentary or an announcement that the feature you’ve been working so hard on is available. Write about why it’s so useful and how someone can get started.
It doesn’t have to wait until your release. You can provide regular updates on how things are going, but remember to think about the “why” and not the “how” to avoid repeating what you’re putting into your technical documentation or readme.
Tips and Tricks
People love lists of quick, readable tips for languages they’re learning about or tools they are new to. You will be surprised how many things you think are obvious, that others have not considered.
Have you been studying something in your spare time? Working on your professional development? You have a unique point of view, so get writing and share it.
Get writing
The best way to get started is to get started.
- Open a google doc and start writing.
- Keep it brief with lots of headings
- Add Grammarly to your Chrome browser and get another pair of eyes across it.
The Nerves
It can be nerve-wracking to put yourself out there, but remember:
- You’re reinforcing your learning or understanding of your chosen technology or tool. So even if you only get a handful of views, you have still done something worthwhile.
- This is all about your unique point of view. Which doesn’t mean you have to know everything on a topic. That’s why you are writing a blog post, and not rewriting technical documentation.
- Everyone makes mistakes, that’s why there is an ‘edit’ button if you spot a typo once you have published your post. So don’t worry too much about it being 100% perfect.
Be prepared for friendly comments and questions … and start thinking about the next post.
Originally published at dev.to.