I noticed that I often hold myself from writing even when I have to say something.
I know why that is.
Paradoxically, whatever I say has been said somewhere.
I'm afraid that I won't deliver anything new. But at the same time how am I going to develop my writing if I don't write?
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Funnily enough, those people who think that their pieces of writing (all art really) aren't good enough, are usually the people who's pieces ARE good enough, or soon will be, but they hold themselves to such high standards that they think they aren't good enough.
I used to write songs and shorts quite often, and the thing is, you should really try to get some feedback on it. Ask some friends that are into writing to have a look at your work to get some feedback if you don't want to post it online.
For me, writing on paper is a much safer space. It's also worth a try.
C O N S T A N T L Y.
I always feel like either my thought isn't developed enough to write out, my thought isn't unique or new so it's not worth it, or I'm not good enough of a writer to put it on paper properly.
All three of these are just reasons to write more. You develop thoughts when you put them on (digital) paper, you learn more about other people's views on it, and you become a better writer by doing it more.
You are not alone!
If whats holding you back, is awareness of your audience. Its a good thing ā¤ļø.
For example, when writing my latest article, i discussed it freely around the office, and adapt the content for the person I speak with automatically.
However once I started the writing process, I realised the topic is a lot more "complicated" then I even thought it was (you might need to see article for context).
Explain Distributed Storage - Hot & Cold
Eugene Cheah
Because i am writing consciously, for a much younger audience, developers who may have just recently received their first laptop last year, with an SSD.
Meaning they have never used nor purchase a computer with a hard-drive. Which makes some segments of the topic harder to cover without more research and explanation (hence the adding of pricing tables between SSD / HDD) : because its harder to talk about hard-drive vs ssd, if the reader never used a hard-drive, nor understand its price difference.
There are also smaller things, like avoiding jokes that are too "US culture specific", especially for non english speakers.
Honestly though, while my writing is far from perfect. I have come to terms that its a good thing to hold back, and ponder through every line (especially my horrible english). To make the content better for as many people as possible. š
And as advice by others, if you feel stuck, draft it out on paper or something you know you wouldnt publish out =X
Same here
That feeling, "well, somebody else has already written it" is quite consuming. My new years resolution was to create my own dev blog (oh no! not another development blog) but that unshakeable feeling "it's already been said" and personal circumstances have so far blown it out of the water.
However, I have now decided that there are a million and one articles on the web about the same thing, and if I want to write about it then I'm going to do it and hope that maybe I've put a different spin on it, or explained it in a different way that it's a "eureka" moment for the reader.
I guess I'm saying you should just go for it. You're absolutely right that you probably can't develop your writing if you don't write. Likewise you certainly can't know if what you are writing is worthwhile without putting it out there, some people will like it some won't. Just don't let the ones who feel the need to tell you how much they dislike it get you down. They've probably never put themselves out there.
Good luck!
You know, you gave me an idea. I think, I need to just spin the purpose of why I'm writing. I often think that I want to share some important idea. But instead, I will think that I'm writing to develop my writing style and writing skills.
One of the ways I thought of to develop the writing... is to take some title but instead of reading the article give my own spin to it. We can call that technique "steal the title".
Recently, I saw a title on medium "5 habits that changed my life". That will be my next post.
Hi Anton,
I go through the same thoughts every single time!
Even posting this comment took some effort! š
There's always this nagging fear/doubt that what seemed like a big thing or a new discovery to me, might sound silly or naive for other developers or there's the feeling of maybe I don't know enough about XYZ to write something about it.
But you never know, maybe your writing might help someone understand a topic easily or it might inspire them on their journey! The possibilities are endless and we'll never know unless we make the leap!
Looking forward to reading some of your writings soon! All the best! :D
I sort of know the problem. More in terms of code... However it's in writing blogs too, that I get blocks.